Global stock markets rose by 22% in 2017, according to the Morgan Stanley Capital International index of bourses. Meanwhile, the World Bank is forecasting global economic growth to increase to 3.1% this year after a better-than-expected 2017 as investment, trade and M&A continue to rebound while commodity prices recover. Against this favourable economic background, it is no surprise that offshore law firms had another very good year.

But there were some local difficulties. Hurricane Irma and Hurricane Maria created havoc across the Caribbean, not least in the British Virgin Islands (BVI). ‘It had a devastating impact on the lives of our BVI colleagues,’ says Jonathan Rigby, managing partner of Mourant Ozannes. ‘None of us will ever fully understand what they have been through, but their strength of character and resilience has been truly humbling.’

The largest local firm, Harneys, was hit particularly hard. ‘Because we had already completed the journey to being international, that gives you significantly more resilience than any business continuity planning,’ says chair Peter Tarn. ‘We have BVI-qualified lawyers all over the world who were able to continue doing their jobs and take the strain for the people who couldn’t do theirs for a while.’ Harneys and other firms with a BVI office rode out the storm to produce strong results, invariably with double-digit growth.

Another storm was made by the media: the Paradise Papers, which followed the Panama Papers leak of 2016. But this time, the firm affected was a leading offshore player, Appleby. The leak of 13.4 million confidential files was much publicised; however subsequent litigation may be its only long-term impact that will keep it in the press.

‘The publication of confidential client information obtained by criminal means is indefensible,’ says group managing partner, Michael O’Connell. After Appleby issued legal proceedings suing them for breach of confidence, the BBC and The Guardian said they would vigorously defend the revelations, which were in the ‘highest public interest’. Offshore managing partners elsewhere express sympathy for Appleby’s cause.

Data provided to Legal Business by all of the top ten firms reveals that total fee-earners across every office increased by more than 10% on average to 1,853 last year. Although lawyer numbers increased at every firm, growth rates varied. At Appleby, Carey Olsen, Conyers Dill & Pearman, Harneys, and Maples and Calder, headcount grew in a modest 2-4% range, while at Bedell Cristin, Collas Crill, Mourant Ozannes, Ogier and Walkers, they rose by 15% or more.

High-profile lateral partner hires comprised only a small proportion of the total. Among the 176 extra lawyers across the top ten, the net partner gain was only six. Critically, partner headcount decreased at Appleby (down from 59 to 57), Bedell (23 to 21), Harneys (49 to 47) and Ogier (57 to 54), while only Maples (114 to 119) and Mourant (55 to 60) registered a notable increase. Sizeable expansion below partner level helped some firms to raise gearing and boost profit-per-partner.

In terms of geography, Jersey (up from 341 to 386 lawyers) and the Cayman Islands (336 to 371) experienced the largest hikes, ahead of Hong Kong (174 to 206) and Guernsey (211 to 236), while Irish numbers saw a net gain of 25 lawyers from the two offshore firms there. The main drivers were funds work, both public and private; litigation, primarily from Asia-based clients; M&A; private equity deals; and increasingly, regulatory and compliance work.

Having disposed of their trust businesses, several firms have continued to expand their legal footprint. ‘The drivers that have led to the recent consolidation of trust service providers continue to apply,’ says Alex Ohlsson, group managing partner at Carey Olsen. ‘Indeed, with the cost of having geared up for the Common Reporting Standard and now the General Data Protection Regulation compliance (from May 2018), such drivers are perhaps more powerful than ever.’

Below are snapshots of the ten largest offshore firms from 2017, focusing on their recent performance and practice growth.

***

APPLEBY

Lawyers: 179, including 57 partners

Offices: Ten (Bermuda, BVI, Cayman Islands, Guernsey, Hong Kong, Isle of Man, Jersey, Mauritius, Seychelles, Shanghai)

Group managing partner: Michael O’Connell (Jersey)

Focus: Corporate, dispute resolution, private client/trusts, property and regulatory.

Recent standout deals: Acting for creditors on the restructuring of Ocean Rig UDW, which resulted in a net debt reduction of around $3.25bn and a $450m credit facility; advising on a reverse triangular merger between Rajax, a food delivery business, Baidu, a Chinese internet provider and its subsidiary, Xiaodu.

Appleby had a busy 2017. Standout areas included: finance work for banks; shareholder and other disputes in the BVI and Cayman; insurance and reinsurance in Bermuda; initial public offerings (IPOs) in Hong Kong; dispute resolution in the Isle of Man; and funds and private equity, particularly in Cayman.

But inevitably this was overshadowed by the unauthorised release of the Paradise Papers in November 2017 by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists. ‘This is an obvious external event that has had an impact on Appleby,’ says O‘Connell. ‘The publication of confidential client information obtained by criminal means is indefensible.’ In total, 13.4m documents relating to the firm’s clients were published. Appleby is suing The Guardian and the BBC for breach of confidence.

‘We have engaged a US cyber security team to review and thoroughly test our IT posture so we are able to reassure our clients their data is safe.’
Michael O’Connell, Appleby

‘Our overwhelming priority since the media storm has been our clients and our colleagues who have had their information stolen,’ says O’Connell. ‘To that end, we have engaged a US cyber security team to review and thoroughly test our IT posture so that we are able to reassure our clients that their data is safe on our systems. The completion of this exercise will mean that our security systems have been tested twice by two leading, international cyber teams.’

O’Connell remains convinced that the offshore legal industry will continue to consolidate. ‘If we find the right partner with the right fit and the same aspirations as Appleby at the right time, then of course we will consider a potential merger.’ He remains sanguine: ‘We are very comfortable progressing our strategy under our own brand which, despite everything we have experienced, seems stronger and more resilient than ever.’

BEDELL CRISTIN

Fee earners: 72, including 21 partners

Offices: Five (BVI, Guernsey, Jersey, London, Singapore)

Managing partner: David Cadin (Jersey)

Focus: Banking, capital markets, property, corporate/commercial, insolvency/restructuring, insurance/reinsurance, investment funds, litigation, private client, probate, regulatory and compliance.

Recent standout deal: Advising Artex Risk Solutions on what is believed to be the first- ever issue of insurance-linked securities notes on a private blockchain.

Recent standout disputes work: The Crociani case, in which Bedell secured a successful outcome for the plaintiffs in September 2017, securing $200m of trust assets following a five-year dispute.

Bedell Cristin saw the management buyout of its trust company, Bedell Trust, in 2016. ‘Independence has been fantastic, liberating,’ suggests Cadin. ‘The ability to get out and have conversations with clients who just wouldn’t talk to us before because we were competing or perceived to be competing in their space.’

The rhetoric is matched by results. ‘It’s been the best performance ever for the firm in 2017 and by a significant degree,’ he says, pointing to litigation, corporate and commercial as standout areas, which have ‘contributed enormously’ to growth. Prominent advisory work includes acting for Leonard Green & Partners, a US private equity investment firm, on its £2.4bn acquisition of intellectual property (IP) management and technology group, CPA Global. Looking ahead, Cadin anticipates similar momentum.

‘The buyout of Bedell Trust gave us the ability to get out and have conversations with clients who just wouldn’t talk to us before.’
David Cadin, Bedell Cristin

Lawyer headcount increased from 62 to 73 over the course of last year. In December, Bedell appointed a chief operating officer, Neil May, who was most recently chief executive at 42 Bedford Row, having previously been at Clifford Chance and Hogan Lovells. ‘This is our first non-lawyer senior management hire,’ he says, labelling it ‘a sign of the firm’s confidence’ and a distinct move away from the overcautious approach of Bedell’s past. May joins Charlotte Beddoe, recently appointed as head of risk and compliance, and Rebecca Stannard, the new head of marketing and business development, on the new-look senior management team.

Setting his sights on growth, Cadin says: ‘We are looking at expansion, opening up and acquiring offices in other jurisdictions.’ He expects to deliver on any announcement ‘by the end of our financial year (31 August)’. Jersey, he argues, is a saturated market but he likes the look of growth in Guernsey and expects to add to the local office partnership.

CAREY OLSEN

Lawyers: 200, including 49 partners

Offices: Nine (Bermuda, BVI, Cape Town, Cayman Islands, Guernsey, Hong Kong, Jersey, London, Singapore)

Managing partner: Alex Ohlsson (Jersey)

Chair: John Kelleher (Jersey)

Focus: Banking/finance, corporate/commercial, investment funds and private equity, dispute resolution, trusts/private wealth, property, employment and insurance.

Recent standout deal: The SoftBank Vision Fund (SBVF) launch, which raised around $100bn, becoming the world’s largest-ever investment fund focused on developing global technology. Partners Robert Milner and Daniel O’Connor advised on Jersey legal aspects.

Recent standout disputes work: The Guernsey litigation team continues to advise on the Tchenguiz litigation, a large contentious trust insolvency dispute. In November 2017 the Privy Council heard seven appeals in the case.

Carey Olsen opened in Bermuda last November, led by employment lawyer Michael Hanson and commercial litigation partner Keith Robinson, both of whom were hired from Appleby. The move follows Harneys and Walkers, which opened local offices in 2016. ‘We will be recruiting a number of senior and experienced Bermudian lawyers over 2018 and developing a full-service offering,’ says Ohlsson.

‘We will be recruiting a number of senior and experienced Bermudian lawyers over 2018 and developing a full-service offering.’
Alex Ohlsson, Carey Olsen

He points to ‘impressive growth in the investment funds sector across the group: we continue to be the leading investment funds legal adviser across the Channel Islands’. The data supports his claim. Acting for clients such as ADM Capital and Pershing Square Holdings, Carey Olsen was instructed on 71% of all new investment funds business in Guernsey (July 2016-June 2017), according to the Monterey Insight Fund Survey.

Beyond the $100bn SBVF launch, the Jersey funds team has been involved in multiple mandates, including the world’s first regulated, crypto-denominated fund: CoinShares Fund I. According to Monterey, Carey Olsen and Mourant were the only two Jersey law firms to increase the number of Jersey-domiciled funds they advise. Combined, Carey Olsen advises 1,200 funds across Guernsey and Jersey.

The firm also maintained its position as the leading offshore legal adviser for London Stock Exchange-listed clients, advising a total of 98 clients, according to the Corporate Advisers Rankings Guide. In M&A, Carey Olsen advised Permira on the acquisition of a strategic stake in Klarna Bank and Toronto Stock Exchange-listed Avnel Gold Mining on its acquisition by Endeavour Mining Corporation using a Guernsey scheme of arrangement.

COLLAS CRILL

Lawyers: 77, including 35 partners

Offices: Seven (BVI, Cayman Islands, Guernsey, Jersey, Hong Kong, London, Singapore)

Group managing partner: Jason Romer (Guernsey)

Chair: Nigel Vooght (London)

Focus: Banking/finance, capital markets, corporate/commercial, dispute resolution/insolvency, investment funds/private equity, trusts/fiduciary/private client services, property, risk and regulatory, and UK real estate.

Recent standout disputes work: Ocean Rig UDW – acting for Highland Capital Management, a significant stakeholder in a proposed $3.6bn restructuring; representing RHSW Cayman as joint provisional liquidators and joint official liquidators of Platinum Partners’ value arbitrage fund, a hedge fund purporting to have $1.1bn in assets under management.

Collas Crill had a very strong 2017. ‘The litigation practice in Cayman is what can only be described as booming: it’s absolutely helter-skelter,’ says Romer. Litigation in the Channel Islands has also been very active. In September, Collas Crill’s dispute resolution team in Guernsey successfully defended the independent non-executive directors of Carlyle Investment Management against a claim for nearly $2bn brought by its liquidators. Somewhat less public, ‘there are three very big trust litigation matters that we are involved in’, he adds.

‘The litigation practice in Cayman is what can only be described as booming: it’s absolutely helter-skelter.’
Jason Romer, Collas Crill

Continued double-digit revenue growth across the firm last year was matched by a comparable increase in lawyer headcount – from 66 to 77 – across seven offices. Prominent among the lateral hires were partners Mike Williams, who now heads up the Jersey corporate team, and Ian Montgomery. Both came from Mourant. Meanwhile, Dilmun Leach, who has particular expertise in cryptocurrencies according to Romer, was hired from Ogier and appointed as funds partner in August.

In January, Collas Crill also recruited Sandy Salter as head of compliance from Baker Tilly (BVI). She was soon followed by Kate Stanfield, who joined the firm in February as head of knowledge management, having held the same role at CMS for over 20 years. Romer says: ‘Making sure that we’ve got knowledge management right is absolutely vital.’

Growth, he suggests, is coming primarily from Asia, the Middle East and, for the Cayman office, the US market. Collas Crill opened a Hong Kong representative office in September with Simon Fraser, a former director of Ogier Fiduciary Services, being appointed as local consultant to the firm. ‘It’s an extremely price-sensitive market and has already produced some strong and interesting leads for us: they really love the Caribbean jurisdictions,’ says Romer.

CONYERS DILL & PEARMAN

Lawyers: 139, including 61 partners

Offices: Eight (Bermuda, BVI, Cayman Islands, Dubai, Hong Kong, London, Mauritius, Singapore)

Chair: Christian Luthi

Focus: Corporate (including aviation, banking and financing, capital markets, hedge funds, insurance, M&A, private equity/venture capital and shipping), dispute resolution, private client/trusts, IP and real estate.

Recent standout deals: Providing BVI and Cayman advice to Wharf Real Estate Investment Company on its $19.5bn, entire issued-share capital listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange; providing Bermuda law advice to Avolon on its $10.4bn acquisition of aircraft leasing business CIT Aerospace.

An experienced litigator, Christian Luthi became Conyers chairman in 2017, succeeding Narinder Hargun and David Lamb, who had been co-chairs since 2012. Meanwhile, Mark Forte was appointed head of the firm’s BVI office, succeeding Robert Briant.

According to Luthi, last year provided growth across the board, most notably in capital markets and M&A, as well as securitisation and structured finance. As evidence, he points to a wealth of advisory work: from BVI, the successful IPO of Despegar.com on the NYSE, with a market capitalisation of approximately $2.1bn; significant Bermuda-based work; and a trio of deals from its Hong Kong office: the going-private merger of JA Solar, the HK$3bn privatisation of Bloomage BioTechnology Corporation and the $1.1bn privatisation of Trina Solar.

‘An increasing number of PE consortiums are forming as a result of high-value M&A transactions – some in the billions.’
Christian Luthi, Conyers Dill & Pearman

Also in Hong Kong, Luthi points to two key drivers. First is the Chinese government’s One Belt One Road (OBOR) initiative. ‘This focuses on connectivity and co-operation between Eurasian countries, with anticipated cumulative investment in the range of $4-8trn,’ he says. ‘As infrastructure conglomerates look to independently raise funds for development, particularly in western China, we expect to see increases in funds formation.’

The second is consortium bids led by private equity. ‘An increasing number of PE consortiums are forming as a result of high-value M&A transactions – some in the billions,’ he says. ‘Utilising these consortiums allows PE firms to share risk.’ He expects this to continue, especially in longer-term infrastructure investments.

Luthi further identifies a growing trend among aircraft operating lessors accessing capital markets to securitise portfolios of aircraft in asset-backed securitisations using Cayman-incorporated special purpose vehicles. ‘Looking ahead, among the areas we are watching across all of our jurisdictions is digital technology: cryptocurrencies, initial coin offerings, crypto funds and structuring.’

HARNEYS

Lawyers: 149, including 47 partners

Offices: Eight (Bermuda, BVI, Cayman Islands, Cyprus, Hong Kong, London, Shanghai, Singapore)

Executive committee chair: Peter Tarn (London)

Focus: Litigation, restructuring/insolvency, commercial/corporate, private wealth/trusts, investment funds, tax and regulatory, IP, banking/finance, shipping/aircraft, insurance and real estate.

Recent standout deal: Partner Paul Sephton led the Hong Kong team advising Studio City on its Rule 144A/Regulation S international offering of two tranches of senior secured notes with a combined value of $1.2bn and its HK$233m super-senior revolving credit facility.

Recent standout disputes work: Acting for the joint official liquidators of Saad Investments Finance Company (No. 5) in a $9.2bn claim, led by partner William Peake.

Harneys was more affected than any other firm by Hurricane Irma. ‘Our total headcount in the BVI was 185; today we’re at about 130 in the local office,’ says Peter Tarn, London chair of the firm’s executive committee. ‘The problem with bringing people back is not the office or communications, but a domestic housing stock issue,’ he says.

‘Our total headcount in the BVI was 185; today we’re at about 130. The problem is not the office or communications, but a domestic housing stock issue.’
Peter Tarn, Harneys

Helped by its spread of international offices offering BVI legal advice, Harneys not only survived Irma’s aftermath, but has continued to flourish in business terms. Revenue growth for 2017 was above target and double digit. ‘Hong Kong had an outstanding year, as did Cayman in all respects,’ says Tarn, ‘particularly on the transactional side, a lot of subscription finance and fund finance work, which has provided a great deal of growth’.

The strength of the Cayman transactional team is set to expand with the arrival of new lawyers this year. On the dispute resolution side, which Tarn says ‘has a full book’, Madeleine Heal and Nick Hoffman joined the Cayman litigation practice as partners. Heal was formerly a barrister at New Square Chambers and Hoffman was at Cayman-based Priestleys, having previously been in chambers at 7 Bedford Row.

Overall, Tarn identifies the opening of a Shanghai office in September as the high point of the year. ‘We are recruiting hard and we’re expecting it to be a very large component of our business – one of the powerhouses once you push out beyond about three years.’ By 2023, he expects to have another office in mainland China to serve growing local client demand.

MAPLES AND CALDER

Lawyers: 303, including 119 partners

Offices: Seven (BVI, Cayman Islands, Dubai, Dublin, Hong Kong, London, Singapore)

Global managing partner: Alasdair Robertson (Cayman Islands)

Focus: Disputes, corporate, finance, funds, insolvency/corporate restructuring, insurance, IP/technology/telecoms, private equity, property/construction, regulatory/financial services, sports/media/entertainment, tax and trusts.

Recent standout deals: Cayman partners Caroline Moran and Sherice Arman, trusts partner Ray Davern, corporate partner Suzanne Correy and Irish partner Nollaig Murphy advised Ocean Rig UDW on the complex restructuring of $3.7bn of financial indebtedness; advising Avolon on Cayman and Irish law, relating to the financing and $10.4bn acquisition of CIT Group’s aircraft leasing business.

Celebrating its fiftieth anniversary, Cayman-based Maples surpassed the 300-lawyer mark in 2017, keeping it in pole position as the largest offshore firm, just ahead of Walkers. ‘Many of our offices and practice groups have seen a good percentage increase in revenue,’ says Robertson. ‘Across all jurisdictions and practice areas there have been numerous regulatory changes.’ These have been a key driver of growth for Maples covering Cayman, Ireland and BVI law across seven offices.

‘Our London office further extends our global Irish network and complements our existing Irish practices in the Cayman Islands and Hong Kong.’
Nicholas Butcher, Maples and Calder

Although it only opened in Dublin in 2006, Maples now has more than 100 lawyers there, making it by far the largest non-domestic firm in the Irish capital. Two new partners were made up in the firm’s Dublin office last May: Deirdre McIlvenna and Alma O’Sullivan. Meanwhile, Ruairi Bourke and Aisling Dwyer became partners in the BVI and Hong Kong offices respectively. The BVI office also recruited Adrian Francis, formerly a barrister at Three Stone, as a partner in its litigation and insolvency practice.

Last December, Maples extended its Irish network to London, providing partners with Irish transactional services in the UK. Managing partner of the Dublin office, Nicholas Butcher, says: ‘This further extends our global Irish network and complements our existing Irish practices in the Cayman Islands and Hong Kong.’ Maples retained its position as the leading funds adviser in Ireland by value last year.

As part of the new structure, partners Donna Ager, head of the firm’s European aviation practice, and investment funds specialist Adam Donoghue relocated from Dublin to London. Nigel Wilson, who was previously a corporate partner at Davis Polk & Wardwell, also joined the Maples London team as a partner in August.

MOURANT OZANNES

Lawyers: 240, including 60 partners

Offices: Six (BVI, Cayman Islands, Guernsey, Hong Kong, Jersey, London)

Global managing partner: Jonathan Rigby (Jersey)

Senior partner: Robert Shepherd (Guernsey)

Focus: Finance and corporate, funds, international trusts/private client and litigation.

Recent standout deal: The Jersey funds team advised CVC Capital Partners on the launch of CVC Capital Partners VII, which closed with a hard cap of around €15.5bn – the largest-ever fundraising by a European private equity firm.

Recent standout disputes work: Cayman partner Peter Hayden led for Primeo Fund in the Privy Council’s July 2017 decision in Pearson v Primeo Fund, following the collapse of Bernard Madoff’s Ponzi scheme in 2008. The court ruled in favour of Primeo.

In addition to the above, Mourant in Hong Kong advised Export-Import Bank of China, China Development Bank, Silk Road Fund and International Finance Corporation in connection with a $1.39bn facility: the first infrastructure project to be announced under China’s One Belt One Road initiative. Rigby says: ‘Our finance, corporate and funds practices, especially in the Caribbean and Asia, have seen the greatest increases in revenue in 2017 with our Hong Kong, BVI and Jersey offices showing the strongest growth overall.’

Guernsey and Jersey private investment funds were developed as new products last year in response to increasing regulation. ‘Our Jersey investment funds practice advised on the first five private investment funds established in early 2017,’ says Rigby, ‘as the new regime was quickly seized upon by existing and new clients as an effective, streamlined and proportionate product for privately-offered alternative investment funds’.

‘As a multidisciplinary partnership, we will be even better placed to understand our clients’ needs.’
Jonathan Rigby, Mourant Ozannes

Last year, Mourant made up five partners: Jon Woolrich, Alistair Horn, Claire Fulton, Keith Pearse and Ed Fletcher. The most significant event for the firm was ‘definitely the appointment to our partnership of professionals from outside the law,’ says Rigby. Pearse, who became partner and chief operating officer, was previously global trust HR director at RBC Royal Bank of Canada, while Fletcher, who is managing director, corporate services, was previously a regional business head at Deutsche Bank.

‘This was an important and significant milestone for the firm,’ says Rigby. ‘It reflects our strong one-firm ethos and our strategy for growth. As a multidisciplinary partnership, we will be even better placed to understand our clients’ needs and provide them with an exceptional client experience.’

OGIER

Lawyers: 211, including 54 partners

Offices: Eight (BVI, Cayman Islands, Guernsey, Hong Kong, Jersey, Luxembourg, plus presences in Shanghai and Tokyo)

Global managing partner: Edward Mackereth (Jersey)

Global senior partner: Steve Meiklejohn (Jersey)

Focus: Banking/finance, corporate/commercial, dispute resolution, environment, investment funds, listings, private client/trusts, real estate, regulatory, restructuring/insolvency and tax.

Recent standout deals: Partner Katrina Edge led a team advising on the £1.28bn purchase of the Walkie Talkie building (20 Fenchurch Street) – the most expensive London commercial real estate deal on record; partner Rachael Reynolds led the Cayman contentious restructuring and insolvency team, advising on the $3.7bn Ocean Rig scheme of arrangement.

‘Although lateral partner hires are usually rare in the offshore world, in the last 12 months we have been joined by partners from Appleby, Bedell Cristin, Harneys and Mourant,’ says Edward Mackereth. ‘Each of them has been impressed and surprised by the way in which Ogier is harnessing the use of technology to deliver not just a more efficient service, but a more client-friendly one.’

Ogier’s 2017 partner hires were: Marc Kish (disputes, Cayman), former head of litigation at Harneys; Emily Haithwaite (investment funds, Jersey) and James Campbell (private client and trusts, Jersey), both formerly at Bedell; Gavin Ferguson (head of private client and trusts, Guernsey), formerly Appleby’s Guernsey managing partner; and Simon Felton (banking and finance, Jersey), from Mourant.

‘Although lateral hires are rare offshore, in the last 12 months we have been joined by partners from Appleby, Bedell, Harneys and Mourant.’
Edward Mackereth, Ogier

‘Our BVI work [Ogier has BVI-admitted lawyers in several offices] continues to be driven by corporate activity, such as the $3.4bn GE Water acquisition and the Toys R Us restructuring,’ says Mackereth. He adds that Cayman has been busy with insolvency work (eg, Ocean Rig and China Agrotech Holdings), the Channel Islands with banking, finance, corporate and private client/trusts work, and Hong Kong with investment funds.

‘The new Cayman limited liability company structure and the close relationship to our Luxembourg team (now 18 lawyers) is an offering that no other offshore firm can match,’ he says. As the only big offshore firm with a Luxembourg presence, Ogier is funds-focused, ‘with more work flowing into the jurisdiction because of Brexit’, adds Mackereth.

WALKERS

Lawyers: 281, including 94 partners

Offices: Ten (Bermuda*, BVI, Cayman Islands, Dubai, Hong Kong, Guernsey, Ireland, Jersey, London, Singapore)
* Walkers practises in an exclusive association with Taylors

Global managing partner: Ingrid Pierce (Cayman)

Focus: Banking and finance, corporate, funds, insolvency and dispute resolution, insurance, listing services, private equity, real estate, regulatory/compliance, structured products/capital markets, taxation (Ireland) and wealth structuring.

Recent standout deals: Acting as Cayman counsel to Bank of America as lender, including a Cayman law-governed security package of $7.4bn, in Broadcom’s acquisition of Avago Technologies.

Recent standout disputes work: Walkers acted for the liquidator in the Privy Council decision in the matter of Michael Pearson [as additional liquidator of Herald Fund SPC] v Primeo Fund.

Walkers saw another significant increase in lawyer headcount over the last year, most notably in Dublin, which grew from 37 to 57 lawyers while numbers swelled from 47 to 57 in Cayman. Cumulatively, total fee-earners grew by 15% to 281 lawyers, placing Walkers just behind Maples and Calder in size among the largest offshore firms.

Notable among the partner hires were Nicholas Blake Knox as head of investment funds in Ireland (previously senior vice president at PIMCO), Patrick Ormond (previously counsel at Carey Olsen and Conyers) as a BVI partner and Iain Tucker (previously counsel at Hogan Lovells). Several more lateral partners are expected to join Walkers in the first half of 2018.

‘Regulatory has had a tremendous impact on pretty much every practice area it touches from litigation all the way through to corporate.’
Ingrid Pierce, Walkers

Global managing partner Ingrid Pierce identifies two distinct drivers of growth. Regulatory work, she says, has become much more important as a standalone practice with ‘a tremendous impact on pretty much every practice area it touches from litigation all the way through to corporate. It’s grown because it’s grown for our clients, many of whom are regulated, operating in multiple jurisdictions, having to grapple with multiple layers of regulation and cross-border issues’.

The second driver is litigation and restructuring. ‘It continues to be a strong source of revenue and quality work that has kept a lot of our people very busy, both in Cayman and in Asia,’ she says. ‘I kept thinking that at some point it would start falling off; it hasn’t.’ Walkers has 23 contentious partners – more than a quarter of its total – giving it the largest team of any offshore firm. LB

By the numbers – offshore firms geographic spread (partners/other fee-earners)

	Appleby	Bedell Cristin	Carey Olsen	Conyers Dill & Pearman	Collas Crill	Harneys	Maples and Calder	Mourant Ozannes	Ogier	Walkers	TOTAL
Bermuda	11/25	–	2/4	29/29	–	3/1	–	–	–	4/4	49/63	112
BVI	4/5	–	2/6	5/10	2/4	12/25	4/8	3/7	4/7	7/12	43/84	127
Cayman Islands	11/24	–	5/15	9/11	5/7	10/18	49/59	8/22	10/21	30/57	137/234	371
Cyprus	–	–	–	–	–	4/11	–	–	–	–	4/11	15
Dubai	–	–	–	1/2	–	–	3/3	–	–	3/8	7/13	20
Dublin	–	–	–	–	–	–	35/79	–	–	14/43	49/122	171
Guernsey	4/10	4/10	17/44	–	13/20	–	–	14/53	8/26	6/7	66/170	236
Hong Kong	8/7	–	1/2	13/15	–	10/33	17/19	5/12	6/20	13/25	73/133	206
Isle of Man	10/20	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	10/20	30
Jersey	8/17	14/35	21/61	–	14/10	–	–	26/75	21/65	5/14	109/277	386
London	–	2/6	1/14	1/2	–	7/7	9/12	4/11	–	5/8	29/60	89
Luxembourg	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	5/18	–	5/18	23
Mauritius/Seychelles	1/14	–	–	0/6	–	–	–	–	–	–	1/20	21
Shanghai	–	–	–	–	–	0/2	–	–	–	–	0/2	2
Singapore	–	1/0	2/5	3/3	1/1	1/5	2/4	–	–	7/9	17/27	44
TOTAL	57/122=179	21/51=72	49/151=200	61/78=139	35/42=77	47/102=149	119/184=303	60/180=240	54/157=211	94/187=281