Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer
Encyclopedia
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP (informally Freshfields) is a global law firm
Law firm
A law firm is a business entity formed by one or more lawyers to engage in the practice of law. The primary service rendered by a law firm is to advise clients about their legal rights and responsibilities, and to represent clients in civil or criminal cases, business transactions, and other...

 headquartered in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

, United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 and a member of the 'Magic Circle'
Magic Circle (law)
The "Magic Circle" is an informal term used to collectively describe what are generally regarded to be the five leading UK-headquartered law firms and the four or five leading London-based commercial barristers' chambers.-Law firms:...

 of leading English law firms. It is the second-largest law firm in the world measured by revenues. In 2010-11 it achieved total revenues of £1.14 billion and profits per equity partner of £1.308 million. It has 27 offices in 16 countries across Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...

, Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

, the Middle East
Middle East
The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...

 and North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...

 and employs around 2,500 legal advisers. It advises national and multinational corporations, financial institutions and governments.

Will Lawes is the firm's senior partner and Ted Burke is managing partner.

History

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer was created on 1 August 2000 when the UK-based Freshfields merged with Germany-based Deringer Tessin Herrmann & Sedemund and Bruckhaus Westrick Heller Löber.

Freshfields traced its origins back to at least 1743 in London, when Samuel Dodd, one of its partners, was appointed solicitor
Solicitor
Solicitors are lawyers who traditionally deal with any legal matter including conducting proceedings in courts. In the United Kingdom, a few Australian states and the Republic of Ireland, the legal profession is split between solicitors and barristers , and a lawyer will usually only hold one title...

 to the Bank of England
Bank of England
The Bank of England is the central bank of the United Kingdom and the model on which most modern central banks have been based. Established in 1694, it is the second oldest central bank in the world...

. The law firm changed its name with different partners until James William Freshfield
James William Freshfield
James William Freshfield was an English lawyer and founder of the international law firm of Freshfields. He was also a Conservative politician and Member of Parliament, representing the seats of Penryn and Boston.-Early life:...

 (1775-1864) was elected partner. A symbol of the archangel Michael, part of the Freshfields family crest since the middle of the 18th century, also became the law firm's symbol. James Freshfield, his sons and grandsons continued in the service of the firm until the last Freshfield retired in 1918. Bruckhaus' history began in 1840 in Hamburg
Hamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...

, while Deringer Tessin Herrmann & Sedemund was founded in 1962 by Arved Deringer
Arved Deringer
Arved Deringer was a German lawyer and politician for the CDU. He was a member of the Bundestag from 1957 and 1969....

 and Claus Tessin and had been based in Cologne
Cologne
Cologne is Germany's fourth-largest city , and is the largest city both in the Germany Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than ten million inhabitants.Cologne is located on both sides of the...

 since 1970. The three-way merger in 2000 represented the ambition of all three firms of becoming an international law firm
Law firm
A law firm is a business entity formed by one or more lawyers to engage in the practice of law. The primary service rendered by a law firm is to advise clients about their legal rights and responsibilities, and to represent clients in civil or criminal cases, business transactions, and other...

, and was described by the UK's Financial Times
Financial Times
The Financial Times is an international business newspaper. It is a morning daily newspaper published in London and printed in 24 cities around the world. Its primary rival is the Wall Street Journal, published in New York City....

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 partner
Equity partner
An equity partner is a partner in a partnership who is a part owner of the business, and is entitled to a proportion of the distributable profits of the partnership...

ship. 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. 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.

On 1 May 2008, Freshfields converted to a limited liability partnership (LLP)
Limited liability partnership
A limited liability partnership is a partnership in which some or all partners have limited liability. It therefore exhibits elements of partnerships and corporations. In an LLP one partner is not responsible or liable for another partner's misconduct or negligence. This is an important...

. In February 2009, it was announced that Freshfields had been chosen as the official legal services provider to the London 2012 Olympic
2012 Summer Olympics
The 2012 Summer Olympic Games, officially known as the "London 2012 Olympic Games", are scheduled to take place in London, England, United Kingdom from 27 July to 12 August 2012...

 and Paralympic Games
2012 Summer Paralympics
The 2012 Summer Paralympic Games will be the fourteenth Paralympics and will take place between 29 August and 9 September 2012. The Games will be held in London, United Kingdom after the city was successful with its bid for the Paralympics and Summer Olympic Games.Even though 2012 will be London's...

.

Main practice areas

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

Awards and rankings

Recent awards by Freshfields include: "M&A team of the year" (IFLR European Awards 2010); "M&A team of the year" (British Legal Awards 2009 and 2008); "Germany law firm of the year" and "UK law firm of the year" (Chambers Europe Awards for Excellence 2009); "Most innovative law firm" (Financial Times Innovative Lawyers Awards 2009); "Global law firm of the year" (Who's Who Legal Awards 2009); "Law firm of the year" (The Lawyer Awards 2008); "International law firm of the year" (PLC Which Lawyer? Awards 2008).

Corporate social responsibility

Freshfields was named Legal Business CSR Firm of the Year 2007 for being the first international law firm to produce an externally audited corporate social responsibility report under the Global Reporting Initiative
Global Reporting Initiative
The Global Reporting Initiative produces one of the world's most prevalent standards for sustainability reporting - also known as ecological footprint reporting, Environmental Social Governance reporting, Triple Bottom Line reporting, Corporate Social Responsibility reporting...

's sustainability reporting
Sustainability Reporting
Corporate sustainability reporting has a long history going back to environmental reporting. The first environmental reports were published in the late 1980s by companies in the chemical industry which had serious image problems...

 framework. In 2009, the firm yet again won the CSR
CSR
CSR may refer to:In business:* CSR Limited, an Australian industrial company, formerly known as Colonial Sugar Refining Company* CSR plc, or Cambridge Silicon Radio, a British silicon chip designer and software company...

 Programme of the Year award by Legal Business.

In January 2008, the firm followed this London-focused report with an externally assured report on activities across all of its then 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.
Freshfields runs a number of programmes designed to attract applicants from non-traditional backgrounds, including TARGETchances City law, Pure Potential and the Sutton Trust's Pathways to Law initiative.

Offices

Freshfields has 27 offices in 16 countries across Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...

, Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

, the Middle East
Middle East
The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...

 and North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...

.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK