Legal Business

OC, Mishcon, DLA Piper and CC major winners at 2015 Legal Business Awards

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Clifford ChanceMishcon de ReyaOsborne Clarke
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Osborne Clarke (OC), Mishcon de Reya and Clifford Chance (CC) were among the major winners at the 2015 Legal Business Awards, with DLA Piper global co-chair Sir Nigel Knowles handed a special one-off award for industry-defining achievement marking the 25th anniversary of Legal Business.

OC took the coveted Law Firm of the Year award thanks to a period of dramatic growth and assured strategic expansion, while Mishcon managing partner Kevin Gold was named Management Partner of the Year for his central role in supporting the emergence of Mishcon as one of the most distinctive and imaginative players in the UK market.

Knowles was cited for outstanding individual achievement for his central role in taking DLA Piper from its roots in the English regions to become one of the world’s largest law firms in a special award honouring the figure judged to have most defined the UK profession since Legal Business launched in 1990.

CC was a major winner in the practice awards, named as Finance Team of the Year for its work on the UK Treasury’s ground-breaking RMB3bn bond issue and also Restructuring Team of the Year for advising on the innovative workout of APCOA Group. Macfarlanes, meanwhile, secured the coveted Corporate Team of the Year award for its role on Verizon’s $130bn acquisition of Vodafone’s stake in Verizon Wireless.

Other major awards saw Vodafone general counsel Rosemary Martin named Lawyer of the Year, while the Royal Mail was named In-House Team of the Year. Ropes & Gray was the US Law Firm of the Year, with Brodies named as National/Regional Firm of the Year.

The awards were presented to more than 1,000 guests in a gala ceremony last night (24 March) hosted by distinguished broadcaster and journalist Jeremy Paxman. The event was preceded by a reception to mark the launch of this year’s GC Power List report.

This year saw the introduction of an external judging panel of distinguished industry figures. The panel comprised the following senior general counsel: Michael Shaw (Barclays); Andrew Whittaker (Lloyds Banking Group); Robert Ivens (Marks & Spencer); Adrian de Souza (Land Securities); Siobhan Moriarty (Diageo); Michael Herlihy (Smiths Group); Kirsty Cooper (Aviva); Claire Chapman (Daily Mail and General Trust) and Alison Kay (National Grid). The panel was completed by Jomati founder Tony Williams and Paul Gilbert of LBC Wise Counsel, as well as Alex Novarese and Mark McAteer from Legal Business.

Our April edition will include a full report on the night.

For more details click here. See #LBAwards2015 on twitter.

 

Legal Business Awards 2015 – The Winners

Simmons & Simmons – TMT Team of the Year

 

Clifford Chance – Restructuring Team of the Year

 

Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton – Competition Team of the Year

 

Hogan Lovells – Energy and Infrastructure Team of the Year

 

Weil, Gotshal & Manges – Dispute Resolution Team of the Year

 

Clifford Chance – Finance Team of the Year

 

Mills & Reeve – Private Client Team of the Year

 

DAC Beachcroft – Insurance Team of the Year

 

Macfarlanes – Corporate Team of the Year

 

Travers Smith – Private Equity Team of the Year

 

Wragge Lawrence Graham & Co – Real Estate Team of the Year

 

Wiggin – Boutique of the Year

 

Rosemary Martin, Vodafone – Lawyer of the Year

 

Reed Smith – CSR Programme of the Year

 

Garrigues – International Firm of the Year

 

Kumar Tewari, Lloyds Banking Group – Rising Star In-House Counsel of the Year

 

Royal Mail – In-House Team of the Year

 

Kevin Gold, Mishcon de Reya – Management Partner of the Year

 

Ropes & Gray – US Law Firm of the Year

 

DWF – Legal Innovator of the Year

 

Wragge Lawrence Graham & Co – Legal Technology Team of the Year

 

Brodies – National/Regional Firm of the Year

 

Sir Nigel Knowles – Outstanding Individual Achievement Award: 25 Years

 

Osborne Clarke – Law Firm of the Year

 

alex.novarese@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

Mishcon, Latham and OC up against City elite as shortlists announced for 2015 Legal Business Awards

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Clifford Chance (CC), Mishcon de Reya, Osborne Clarke and DLA Piper are among those vying to win prizes at what promises to be the largest-ever Legal Business Awards.

The firms are among those nominated as we unveil the shortlists today (9 March) for the awards ahead of the ceremony, which will be held on 24 March at the Grosvenor House Hotel in central London.

Mishcon and OC are joined by Latham & Watkins, Travers Smith, Macfarlanes and Watson Farley & Williams in contention for the biggest award of the night: Law Firm of the Year. Mishcon managing partner Kevin Gold is also up against OC’s Simon Beswick and Stephenson Harwood’s Sharon White as Management Partner of the Year.

CC, meanwhile, features heavily in the major practice awards, including Finance Team of the Year, where the firm is shortlisted alongside Allen & Overy, Herbert Smith Freehills (HSF), Norton Rose Fulbright, Reed Smith, Sidley Austin and Simmons & Simmons.

The shortlist for Corporate Team of the Year is Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, Covington & Burling, HSF, Linklaters, Macfarlanes, OC and Slaughter and May.

This year we introduce two new categories: Boutique of the Year and Legal Innovator. The former sees Candey, Curtis Davis Garrard, Signature Litigation, Volterra Fietta, Wiggin and Zyda Law compete, while the innovation shortlist is Berwin Leighton Paisner, CMS Cameron McKenna, DWF, Mishcon, Pinsent Masons and Wiggin.

Bluechip legal teams up for the main in-house award are AIG, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Coca-Cola Enterprises, Royal Mail, SSE and Telefónica UK.

The night, which is being hosted by distinguished broadcaster Jeremy Paxman, is set to attract well over 1,000 guests and will be preceded by a reception to mark this year’s GC Power List report.

In a special award to mark the 25th anniversary of Legal Business, the magazine will also name a single individual who has made an outstanding contribution to the profession over that period.

In a further change this year, Legal Business has introduced an external judging panel to increase scrutiny. The distinguished panel of judges comprise a range of senior general counsel: Michael Shaw (Barclays); Andrew Whittaker (Lloyds Banking Group); Robert Ivens (Marks & Spencer); Adrian de Souza (Land Securities); Siobhan Moriarty (Diageo); Michael Herlihy (Smiths Group); Kirsty Cooper (Aviva); Claire Chapman (Daily Mail and General Trust) and Alison Kay (National Grid). Also on the panel, alongside editor-in-chief Alex Novarese and managing editor Mark McAteer, are Jomati founder Tony Williams and Paul Gilbert of LBC Wise Counsel.

alex.novarese@legalease.co.uk

The Legal Business Awards 2015 shortlists:


TMT Team of the Year

Bristows

Covington & Burling

Harbottle & Lewis

Royal Mail

RPC

Simmons & Simmons

Taylor Wessing

 

Restructuring Team of the Year

Allen & Overy

Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton

Clifford Chance

DLA Piper

Herbert Smith Freehills

Slaughter and May

 

Competition Team of the Year

Ashurst

Berwin Leighton Paisner

Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer

King & Wood Mallesons

Shearman & Sterling

 

Energy and Infrastructure Team of the Year

Dentons

DLA Piper

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer

Herbert Smith Freehills

Hogan Lovells

Slaughter and May

 

Dispute Resolution Team of the Year

Eversheds

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer

Hausfeld

Mishcon de Reya

Weil, Gotshal & Manges

White & Case

Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr

 

Finance Team of the Year

Allen & Overy

Clifford Chance

Herbert Smith Freehills

Norton Rose Fulbright

Reed Smith

Sidley Austin

Simmons & Simmons

 

Private Client Team of the year

Addleshaw Goddard

Boodle Hatfield

Burges Salmon

Mills & Reeve

Taylor Wessing

Withers

 

Insurance Team of the Year

Ashurst

Clifford Chance

DAC Beachcroft

Hogan Lovells

Pinsent Masons

Simmons & Simmons

 

Corporate Team of the Year

Covington & Burling

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer

Herbert Smith Freehills

Linklaters

Macfarlanes

Osborne Clarke

Slaughter and May

 

Private Equity Team of the Year

Latham & Watkins

Linklaters

Shearman & Sterling

Travers Smith

Weil, Gotshal & Manges

 

Real Estate Team of the Year

Addleshaw Goddard

Ashurst

Baker & McKenzie

Clyde & Co

Hogan Lovells

K&L Gates

Wragge Lawrence Graham & Co

 

Boutique of the Year

Candey

Curtis Davis Garrard

Signature Litigation

Volterra Fietta

Wiggin

Zyda Law

 

Lawyer of the Year

Bob Dell, Latham & Watkins

Sir Nigel Knowles, DLA Piper

Rosemary Martin, Vodafone

Angus McBride, Kingsley Napley

 

CSR Programme of the Year

Allen & Overy

Baker & McKenzie

Clyde & Co

Dentons

Paul Hastings

Reed Smith

White & Case

 

International Firm of the Year

Garrigues

Goltsblat BLP

Integrites

Matheson

NCTM

Noerr

 

Rising Star In-House Counsel of the Year

Kent Dreadon, Telefónica UK

Martin Graham, Oaktree

Howard Landes, BG Group

Jenny Lowe, Aggregate Industries

Alice Marsden, Thomas Cook

Kumar Tewari, Lloyds Banking Group

 

In-House Team of the Year

AIG Europe

Bank of America Merrill Lynch

Coca-Cola Enterprises

Royal Mail

SSE

Telefónica UK

 

Management Partner of the Year

Simon Beswick, Osborne Clarke

Bill Drummond, Brodies

Kevin Gold, Mishcon de Reya

Bryan Hughes, Eversheds

Sharon White, Stephenson Harwood

 

US Law Firm of the Year

Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher

Jones Day

Morgan, Lewis & Bockius

Paul Hastings

Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan

Ropes & Gray

Simpson Thacher & Bartlett

 

Legal Innovator of the Year

Berwin Leighton Paisner

CMS Cameron McKenna

DWF

Mishcon de Reya

Pinsent Masons

Wiggin

 

Legal Technology Team of the Year

Ashurst

Axiom

Keoghs

King & Wood Mallesons

Wragge Lawrence Graham & Co

 

National/Regional Firm of the Year

Bond Dickinson

Brodies

DWF

Foot Anstey

Mills & Reeve

Stevens & Bolton

TLT

 

Outstanding Individual Achievement – 25 Years

To be announced by Legal Business at the ceremony

 

Law Firm of the Year

Latham & Watkins

Macfarlanes

Mishcon de Reya

Osborne Clarke

Travers Smith

Watson Farley & Williams

Legal Business

News in brief – February 2015

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Strategic recruitment DLA PiperKennedysKirkland & EllisLatham & WatkinsOsborne ClarkeShakespeare Martineau
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KENNEDYS OPENS IN SCOTLAND

Last month, Kennedys finally entered the Scottish market with the opening of offices in Glasgow and Edinburgh after talks with Simpson & Marwick fell through at the end of 2013. The firm hired Francis Gill & Co’s founder and director Frank Gill, and Rory Jackson, insurance liability and regulatory partner at McClure Naismith, to co-lead the practice.


LATHAM OPENS NEARSHORING OFFICE IN MANCHESTER

Latham & Watkins announced it is set to open a business services office in Manchester during 2015. In the firm’s second centre (after its first in LA), 25 staff will focus on IT and technology support in Europe and there will also be a financial analysis team to provide practice and regional heads with greater budgetary insight.

Legal Business

Trainee retention: White & Case keeps on 100% of Spring 2015 trainees as OC retains 89%

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White & Case and Osborne Clarke (OC) are the latest firms to reveal trainee retention rates this month, keeping on 100% and 89% respectively.

White & Case kept all of its 13 trainee solicitors who applied to qualify in February 2015 as it targets a growing number of cross-border transactions. The result follows a 100% retention rate for the same class last year, and an 84% retention rate in September 2014 after 12 trainees from a total intake of 14 accepted positions at the firm.

The firm’s partner and training principal Justin Benson, who heads the trainee solicitor programme in the London office, said: ‘We continue to see growing demand for English law expertise in cross-border transactions and aim to provide our trainees with the skills and experience they need to become successful lawyers in a leading and dynamic international law firm.’

The newly qualified lawyers join will join the firm’s corporate M&A, disputes, banking and energy, infrastructure, and project and asset finance practice groups.

OC, on the other hand, managed to keep on 89% of its Spring qualifiers, with eight out of its nine trainees set to qualify in March this year. Three of the newly qualified lawyers will join the firm’s Bristol office, with another three in London and two in Thames Valley, across the firm’s commercial, projects, funds, corporate and property litigation groups.

Trowers & Hamlins retained slightly less with 82% of its trainees staying on at that firm. In total, nine of its eleven trainees will qualifying in March 2015 and take up positions across the real estate, banking and finance, disputes and international energy and natural resources departments. Seven of the solicitors will be based in the firm’s London office, with one each in Manchester and Birmingham.

jaishree.kalia@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

‘The first step’: Osborne Clarke restarts private client practice with double partner hire

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Osborne Clarke (OC) has relaunched a dedicated private wealth practice, following the departures of partners Sandra Brown, Robert Drewett and Mark Woodward in 2013.

The practice will be led by Andrew Goodman, who joins the firm from Taylor Wessing, and Stuart Janaway from boutique private client firm, New Quadrant Partners. Based in London, they will serve the firm’s UK and international high net worth clients across OC’s offices worldwide.

The practice will provide the full range of private client advice, including international tax and estate planning, immigration, property advice and, when needed, litigation support. Goodman specialises in personal tax and estate planning, particularly trusts, the structuring of family wealth and related litigation while Janaway joined Quadrant in 2012 from AllianceBernstein, a US investment firm where he had been head of the UK private client business, and was previously at legacy Charles Russell for eight years.

Commenting on the appointments, Ray Berg, OC’s UK managing partner said: ‘Stuart and Andrew’s arrival at Osborne Clarke is the first step in creating a new, innovative private client offering that reflects the culture and approach of our firm.’

Janaway added: ‘Osborne Clarke has a terrific reputation for representing entrepreneurial and fast growing businesses. Managing the wealth they generate is an important part of the advice and support the firm provides. Both Andrew and I are excited by the opportunity to build a dedicated private client practice that reflects the entrepreneurial approach of the firm.’

Brown, who was previously head of private client practice, left the firm for Michelmores in May 2013, followed by high profile private client lawyers Drewett and Woodward and their associated team for Bond Dickinson in October the same year. The departures led Osborne Clarke to restructure its private client division into a much smaller team.

kathryn.mccann@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

Revolving Doors: OC, Paul Hastings and Reed Smith bulk out their City offerings as HSF loses legacy Freehills partner in Singapore

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Last week, Osborne Clarke, Reed Smith and Paul Hastings all expanded their City practices, while Clayton Utz hired Herbert Smith Freehills’ (HSF) Singapore real estate head.

OC expanded its private equity practice with Russell Van Praagh joining as a corporate partner from McDermott Will & Emery as the firm looks to improve on the 32 private equity transactions it carried out in 2013, with a total deal value of £1.2bn.

Van Praagh joined the US firm from ailing Dewey & LeBoeuf in April 2012, alongside partner Mark Davis. He focuses on private equity, venture capital and investment work for institutions, family offices and private individuals.

Meanwhile, US firms Reed Smith and Paul Hastings both made laterals in London. White & Case’s technology lawyer Ashley Winton quit to join Paul Hastings’ City corporate practice as the firm pushes to expand its London technology and privacy practice. Winton advises on technology, IP and antitrust with particular emphasis on European regulatory issues and will officially join the firm on 3 November.

Reed Smith expanded its tax, benefits and wealth planning group with partner Simon Gough, DLA Piper’s former head of UK Tax. He focuses on structured and asset finance transactions as well as contentious tax matters.

Caspar Fox, head of Reed Smith’s European tax practice, said: ‘Simon is a renowned figure in the tax market. His welcome arrival will bolster our European offering, providing immediate benefits to our clients across our key sectors of media, financial services and shipping. His expertise will dovetail neatly with our current practice and provide valuable additional resource to our team.’

And while Herbert Smith Freehills (HSF) ramped up in Asia with a double Ashurst hire (reported last week), the firm also lost real estate head, funds-focused corporate partner Simon Taskunas.

Taskunas rejoins Clayton Utz in its Perth office, after he left and relocated to join legacy firm Freehills in Singapore in 2006. Alongside Taskunas, property partner Danielle Mildren is also joining the firm from Minter Ellison, where she was a senior member of the firm’s property team. 

Taskunas specialises in multidisciplinary real estate sector work for clients based in Asia Pacific including institutional fund managers. He has experience in advising on structuring and investments, M&A, joint ventures, leasing, finance and property developments. Mildren’s new role starts from this month, while Taskunas will join the firm in January 2015.

jaishree.kalia@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

City departures continue for Edwards Wildman as Osborne Clarke recruits IP partner

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Osborne Clarke has become the latest firm to dip into Edwards Wildman Palmer’s dwindling London partnership, and has recruited IP specialist Ben Goodger who is understood to have resigned from the US firm last week.

Having joined the firm in 2010 from IP boutique Rouse, Goodger is recommended by the Legal 500 for licensing and transactional work in the pharma and biotech industry. He further advises companies on the strategic management, commercialisation and protection of their intellectual property, and previously spent two years in Shanghai where he managed Rouse’s China business and Asia commercial IP groups.

For Osborne Clarke, the hire is of little surprise considering the firm’s clear ambition for further growth. In recent weeks it also announced the hire of fellow IP partner Andrea Schmoll from Baker & McKenzie, who departed the firm after 12 years to join OC’s Cologne office.

For Edwards Wildman, the future of its London office is looking increasingly unclear as Goodger joins a lengthy list of City partners that have exited in recent months. The catalyst is said to be over issues of disconnection with the firm’s US arm and in relation to pay.

Located at Old Broad Street, Edwards Wildman recently lost associates to Eversheds, Travers Smith, Pinsent Masons and automobile giant Nissan, while in the summer, insurance litigation lawyer Rhys Davies joined the recently-departed insurance heavyweight Francis Mackie at Weightmans.  A quintet of corporate partners left the firm earlier this year including Niall McAlister to Olswang, Stuart Blythe to CMS Cameron McKenna, Shawn Atkinson to Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe, David Ramm to Morgan Lewis Bockius, and Eero Rautalahti.

Remaining partners at the firm are said to be in talks with fellow US firm Cooley, with negotiations led by commercial litigation head Laurence Harris. Such discussions are ongoing as Boston-headquartered Edwards Wildman recently announced plans to combine with Dallas-bred Locke Lord, forming a $675m practice that would sit just outside the top 50 of the Global 100.

sarah.downey@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

Revolving doors: OC hires from Bakers in international push while Ashurst and Dentons build European presence

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Last week saw LB 100 firms Dentons, Ashurst and Osborne Clarke (OC) expand European offices while Addleshaw Goddard boosted its litigation offering.

 

Dentons enhanced its Paris office with the hire of Nicolas Theys, a partner from King & Wood Mallesons SJ Berwin, to lead its restructuring insolvency and bankruptcy practice in France. His hire is indicative of the increasingly fluid Parisian market that has seen Clifford Chance ramp up its finance and corporate teams in recent weeks. For others, it’s been more of a challenge as evidenced by Berwin Leighton Paisner’s recent decision to scale back as a result of market difficulties.

For Dentons, the addition of Theys, a specialist in all aspects of French insolvency law and experienced in shareholder-related disputes, will enable the firm to ‘build our offering to clients in France and contribute to the strategic goal of developing a leading restructuring practice in Europe’.

Theys brings with him a four-strong team including King Wood counsel Audrey Molina and associates Geraldine Astrup, Elisabeth de Carvalho and Gwenaelle de Girval.

Meanwhile, Ashurst took measures to improve its disputes team in the typically volatile Spanish market, a region that is starting to enjoy an increasingly positive economic outlook. The firm has appointed Jose Antonio Rodriguez Alvarez, a former partner in CMS’s Spanish arm, CMS Albinana & Suarez de Lezo, to head its disputes practice in Spain.

Before his role at CMS, Alvarez also previously led the disputes practice at Baker & McKenzie in Spain and served as general counsel at Spanish TV company, Sogecable.

Commenting on Alvarez’s arrival, the firm’s Spain managing partner Eduardo Gracia: ‘We are confident that Jose Antonio will make significant contribution and provide the leadership required to make it the go-to team in the Spanish market’.

Over in Germany, Osborne Clarke (OC) continues to make good on its international ambitions and recruited IP partner Andrea Schmoll from Baker & McKenzie who leaves the world’s largest firm by revenue after 12 years. She joins OC’s office in Cologne, Germany’s fourth largest city, and brings with her experience in the commercialisation of IP rights, and know-how in R&D, licensing and collaboration agreements.

Having enjoyed an upward growth trajectory of late with global revenues up 26% to €169m for the most recent financial period alongside a profit per equity partner hike of 46% to £513,000, the firm has made clear its audacious mandate for continued expansion.  Outgoing managing partner Simon Beswick told Legal Business previously that, alongside four office launches since last year, the firm will look at further internationalisation which includes making additional lateral hires throughout 2014.

Lastly, having been plagued by multiple partner defects in recent months, Addleshaw Goddard has refocused its efforts on its London office and appointed litigation partner Mark Hastings as head of fraud, regulatory and corporate crime following the exit of Ian Hargreaves to King & Wood Mallesons SJ Berwin while litigation partner Helen Worth was hired from Hong Kong firm Cordells to its London Office.

Hastings is known for several high profile mandates, including leading in the mammoth Berezovsky dispute, a $6bn commercial court claim against Roman Abramovich. He further acted on the related $3bn Chancery Division claims against the estate of the late Georgian billionaire Arkady Patarkatsisvili.

On his new role, litigation division managing partner Michael Barnett said: ‘Mark is well placed to build on this strong platform and lead the team towards our ambition of becoming one of the City of London’s best civil fraud practices’.

sarah.downey@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

Double exit for Osborne Clarke as telecoms chief leaves for Reed Smith and technology head to Fieldfisher

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Top 40 firm Osborne Clarke has suffered the double exit of telecoms head Angus Finnegan to Reed Smith and technology head Mark Webber to Fieldfisher.

Finnegan joins Reed Smith’s media and technology (MT) practice in London, becoming the group’s thirteenth partner in the capital.He joins earlier lateral partner hires Askandar Samad, who joined from DLA Piper at the tail-end of 2012, and Nick Swimer, who joined in 2011 after six years as head of legal for governance and regulatory at Channel 4.

Gregor Pryor, a partner in the MT team, said: ‘As the penetration of internet and mobile services continues to grow, it’s more important than ever for us to add greater strength to our telecommunications and technology capability. Our clients increasingly require a global service and Angus’ unique experience and expertise complements our established US team and capability in telecommunications. More importantly, his arrival enhances our overall capability in the London market, as we continue to grow our global media and technology group.’

Webber’s switch to Fieldfisher, meanwhile, comes after 16 years as a partner at Osborne Clarke. He joins the top 40 firm’s technology, outsourcing and privacy practice and will work closely with the privacy and information sub-group, which recently saw the departure of Stewart Room to PwC Legal and highly-rated head of privacy and information Eduardo Ustaran to Hogan Lovells earlier this year.

Fieldfisher’s managing partner Michael Chissick said: ‘Thanks to the excellent work of the head of our Palo Alto office Phil Lee, and the arrival of [Taylor Wessing corporate partner] David Kent, we have made significant progress in Silicon Valley. We are delighted a lawyer of Mark’s quality is joining the partnership, it strengthens our offering and will help us to build our reputation on both sides of the Atlantic.’

Tom.moore@legalease.co.uk

Legal Business

Financial results 2013/14: Osborne Clarke unveils a PEP increase of 46%

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Osborne Clarke continues its upward growth trajectory with an announcement today (6 June) of a 46% increase in profit per equity partner (PEP) compared with last year’s figures.

PEP now stands at £513,000, largely as a result of a significant increase in the firm’s revenue, which it revealed last week is up globally by 26% to €169m for the most recent financial period.

These figures follow a period of international expansion, with the top 40 firm recently continuing its assault on Europe with an office opening in Amsterdam, announced on 2 June. Last summer saw openings in Brussels and Paris, meaning the firm now has a total of 18 offices in eight countries – with managing partner Simon Beswick confirming to Legal Business that further expansion is on the cards.

In 2011/12 Osborne Clarke had just six offices in three countries.

Other milestones for the firm include a UK partner headcount above 100 for the first time ever, and a jump in profit per partner of 33% to £357,000.

The revenue figure hit this year also meant a bonus was triggered and all staff will be paid a profit share of 2% of their annual salary, with additional performance bonuses for high performers.

Speaking to Legal Business, managing partner Simon Beswick said that the firm attributes much of its success to the fact ‘the lights came on’ in the economy last year and to the firm’s decision in 2009 to focus on four sectors globally: digital business; financial services; energy; real estate and infrastructure. In the UK there are six sectors, including life sciences, healthcare, transport and automotive.

Commenting on the success of the firm in a prepared statement today, Beswick said: ‘This has been a very strong year for the firm. Revenue is up 26% across the international firm and 16% in the UK. UK PEP is up 46% and UK net profits are up 32%. At the same time, we have a larger partnership than ever before – and are drawing close to as many partners outside the UK as in the UK.

‘Pretty much everything we do at OC is driven by our clients’ needs. That’s why we have invested significantly by adding four new offices Paris, Brussels, New York and San Francisco in the last 12 months and we are looking at further internationalisation over the next year. It’s also why we’ll continue to strengthen our sectors through additional lateral hires this year.’

kathryn.mccann@legalease.co.uk