Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer

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Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer
Headquarters International
No. of Offices 26
No. of Attorneys 2,500
No. of Employees 5,500
Major Practice Areas General practice
Revenue ▲ ₤986 million
Date Founded 2000 (merger); (1743 London, 1840 Hamburg)
Company Type General partnership
Website www.freshfields.com

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer (often simply referred to as Freshfields) is a large international law firm providing business law advice throughout Europe (including the United Kingdom), the Middle East, Asia, and the United States. It is noteworthy as the world's fourth largest law firm by revenues (2006 figures).[1]

The firm now has more than 2,500 lawyers in 26 key business centres around the world, and advises national and multinational corporations, financial institutions, and governments. Its declared approach is to use locally-based capabilities and experience, backed up by the knowledge and experience of the wider firm.

The firm is one of the five members of the Magic Circle of London law firms. It was the top ranked legal adviser on European mergers and acquisitions in Bloomberg's primary adviser rankings for both 2006 and 2007. The firm was also ranked as the number 1 M&A adviser in both the UK and Germany for 2006 and 2007.[2]

Freshfields was named German Law Firm of the Year in the FT/Mergermarket M&A awards 2007; European Law Firm of the Year in the IFLR 2007 awards and China Practice of the Year in the IFLR Asia 2007 awards; Law Firm of the Year – Western Europe and International Law Firm of the Year in the 2007 ‘Which Lawyer?’ awards; and Law Firm of the Year in the 2008 Legal Business Awards.

Contents

[edit] History

The firm was created on 1 August 2000 when Freshfields merged with Deringer Tessin Herrmann & Sedemund and with Bruckhaus Westrick Heller Löber to form Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer.

Freshfields can trace its origins stretch back to at least 1743 in London, when Samuel Dodd was appointed solicitor to the Bank of England. The law firm changed its name with different partners until James William Freshfield became a partner and he, his sons and grandsons continued in the service until the last Freshfield retired in 1918.[3] Bruckhaus' history began in 1840 in Hamburg, while Deringer Tessin Herrmann & Sedemund was founded in 1962 by Prof. Arved Deringer and Dr. Claus Tessin and had been based in Cologne since 1970.

Each of the firms was recognised in its domestic market and had begun to forge reputations abroad. The merger in 2000 represented the ambition of all three of becoming an international law firm, and was described by the UK’s Financial Times as "probably the most significant pan-European merger to date in the restructuring of Europe’s legal services."

In 2007, the firm went through a restructuring of its business, which involved slimming down the size of its equity partnership. The changes were made with the aim of increasing the firm’s competitiveness and profitability, and were similar to moves made previously by other competitor firms.[4] Separately, the firm also reformed the partners' pension scheme with the aim of making the scheme fairer for all partners. The changes resulted in a number of departures and three claims, two of which were dropped, while the third was dismissed by the Central London Employment Tribunal.[5] [6]

[edit] Main practice areas

  • Antitrust, competition and trade
  • Corporate
  • Dispute resolution
  • Employment, pensions and benefits
  • Finance
  • IP/IT
  • Real estate
  • Tax

[edit] Main industry areas

  • Automotive
  • Chemicals
  • Consumer products and retail
  • Energy and natural resources
  • Family-owned businesses
  • Financial institutions group
  • Infrastructure and transport
  • General industries group
  • Healthcare
  • Leisure
  • Private equity
  • Telecommunications, media and technology [7]

[edit] Corporate social responsibility

Freshfields was named Legal Business CSR Firm of the Year 2007 [8] for being the first international law firm to produce a corporate social responsibility report under the Global Reporting Initiative’s sustainability reporting framework.[9]

In January 2008, the firm followed this London-focused report with an externally assured report on activities across all of its 26 offices for the year 2006/7, covering the themes of law and ethics, people and diversity, climate change and the environment, and community and pro bono legal advice.[10]

[edit] References

  1. ^ The Lawyer Global 100 from The Lawyer published in association with The American Lawyer in November 2006
  2. ^ "Freshfields Is Top Law Firm on 2007 European Mergers", blooomberg.com, 2007-12-27. 
  3. ^ Judy Slinn (1984). A History of Freshfields. 
  4. ^ "Freshfields reaches end of sweeping equity overhaul", legalweek.com.com, 2007-03-08. 
  5. ^ "Freshfields wins Bloxham age discrimination battle", legalweek.com, 2007-10-10. 
  6. ^ "Shearman's Moore withdraws Freshfields claim", thelawyer.com, 2007-11-08. 
  7. ^ Chambers UK profile
  8. ^ CSR Firm of the Year
  9. ^ "Freshfields CSR report - Pastures new", ethicalcorp.com, 2006-02-17. 
  10. ^ "Freshfields Launches CSR Report", developmentcrossing.com, 2008-01-30. 

[edit] External links

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