Linklaters

Linklaters LLP
Headquarters	One Silk Street London, U.K.
No. of offices	29 in 20 countries[1]
No. of lawyers	2,600[1]
No. of employees	4,500[1]
Major practice areas	General practice
Key people	Simon Davies (Managing Partner) Robert Elliott (Senior Partner)
Revenue	£1.195 billion (2013)[2]
Profit per equity partner	£1.313 million (2013)[2]
Date founded	1838
Company type	Limited liability partnership
Website
www.linklaters.com

Linklaters LLP is a multinational law firm headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It was founded in 1838 and is a member of the Magic Circle of leading British law firms. It currently employs around 2,600 lawyers and has 29 offices across 20 countries.^[1]

In 2013, Linklaters achieved total revenues of £1.195 billion ($1.965 billion) and profits per equity partner of £1.313 million ($2.16 million),^[2] making it the world's sixth highest-grossing law firm,^[3] and among the most profitable.^[4] In the UK, the firm has top-tier rankings across many practice areas, including corporate/M&A, capital markets, banking and finance.^[5][6] Linklaters counts more FTSE 100 companies among its clients than any other British law firm.^[7] In the 2012 Global Elite Brand Index, Linklaters was named the third strongest global law firm brand.^[8]

Simon Davies has been the firm's managing partner since January 2008.

History

Linklaters was founded in London in 1838 when John Linklater entered into a partnership with Julius Dods.^[9] The firm, initially known as Dods & Linklater, gradually developed a practice in corporate law, including advising on the creation of the Metropolitan Water Board.^[10] On 4 May 1920, the firm, now known as Linklater & Co, merged with another renowned London firm, Paines Plythe & Huxtable,^[11] which had been founded by a descendant of Thomas Paine.

For most the twentieth century, Linklaters & Paines was predominately a domestic commercial law firm, with only a small number of overseas offices. However, in 1998, Linklaters & Alliance was created in partnership with many of Europe's leading law firms, including De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek in Amsterdam, De Bandt van Hecke Lagae in Brussels, Loesch & Wolter in Luxembourg, Lagerlöf & Leman in Stockholm and Oppenhoff & Rädler in Germany.^[12][13] Over the next five years, Linklaters & Paines merged with the last four of these Alliance firms, as well as several other European firms, in Belgium, Luxembourg, Sweden, Germany, Czech Republic and Poland. The firm opened new offices in Amsterdam, Bangkok, Beijing, Budapest, Bucharest, Bratislava, Lisbon, Madrid, Milan, Rome, São Paulo, and Shanghai. In 1999, amid this global expansion, the firm shortened its name to Linklaters.^[14]

On 1 April 2005, after Japan enacted laws to allow certain international law firms to open in the country, Linklaters created Japan’s first fully merged law firm practising Japanese, English and US law. Linklaters spun off its offices in Bratislava, Bucharest, Budapest and Prague into a separate firm, Kinstellar (an anagram of Linklaters) in 2007. Linklaters opened an office in Dubai in February 2006.^[15] In the aftermath of the credit crunch in 2008, Linklaters cut 270 jobs in London, consisting of around 120 lawyers and 150 other staff.^[16] This was reported to be part of managing partner Simon Davies' plan to become a smaller, more profitable organisation.^[17]

On 1 May 2012, Linklaters entered into an alliance with top-tier Australian law firm Allens.^[18] Allens and Linklaters operate two joint ventures in Asia: one focused on energy, resources, and infrastructure services, and another on Indonesia in collaboration with domestic firm Widyawan & Partners.^[19] On 1 February 2013, the firm entered into an alliance with leading South African law firm Webber Wentzel.^[20] The same year, Linklaters opened an office in Washington, D.C., its second North American office after New York City. In 2013, the firm launched in Seoul, South Korea.^[21]

Offices

Linklaters was founded and remains headquartered in London. As of 2013, the firm has 29 offices across 20 countries throughout Asia, the Middle East, North America. South America and Europe.^[22]

Practice areas

Linklaters has the following practice areas:^[23]

• Banking
• Capital Markets
• Competition/Antitrust
• Corporate/M&A
• Crisis Management
• Employment & Incentives
• Environment & Climate Change
• Financial Regulation
• Intellectual Property
• Investment Management
• Islamic Finance
• Litigation & Arbitration
• Pensions
• Private Equity
• Projects
• Public & Administrative Law
• Real Estate
• Restructuring & Insolvency
• Tax
• Technology, Media & Telecommunications
• Trusts, Private Clients & Charities

Notable work

Linklaters has recently advised on the following matters:

• Glencore's $82 billion merger with Xstrata in 2012-13,^[24] the largest merger in mining history^[25]
• Eastman Kodak's Chapter 11 bankruptcy and restructuring in 2013^[26]
• Deloitte in relation to the administration of HMV in 2013^[27]
• Siemens' £1.7 billion acquisition of the international rail business of Invensys in 2012^[28]
• News Corporation in relation to the News International phone hacking scandal in 2011^[29]
• Deutsche Börse's $24 billion merger with NYSE Euronext in 2011,^[30][31] which would have created the world's largest stock exchange, but was ultimately blocked by the European Commission
• Ophir Energy's £798 million IPO in 2011^[32]
• Glencore's $60 billion IPO in 2011,^[33] which was London's largest ever international IPO^[34]
• Carlyle Group's $603 million acquisition of Telecable in 2011^[35]
• Successfully settling a corruption claim with the U.S. Department of Justice on behalf of BAE Systems in 2010^[36]
• Credit Suisse and J. P. Morgan on the London IPO of Vallar in 2010 (now Bumi)^[37]
• Goldman Sachs and J. P. Morgan as underwriters of HSBC's £12.5 billion rights issue in 2009^[38]
• Successfully settling an insider trading claim with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on behalf of David Li in 2008^[39]
• The Royal Bank of Scotland's £12 billion rights issue in 2008,^[40] the largest rights issue in history, as well as the recapitalisation by HM Treasury^[41]
• Acting for PricewaterhouseCoopers as administrators of Lehman Brothers since 2008,^[42] including advising on the sale of Lehman Brothers' investment banking and equities business in Europe and the Middle East to Nomura Group.^[43] In 2010, a court-ordered report on Lehman's collapse found that, with its American lawyers unwilling to certify the controversial Repo 105 mechanism it used to hide debt, the investment bank asked Linklaters to approve the practices.^[44] Linklaters provided a letter advising that the Repo 105 transactions were legal; however Linklaters' letter expressly stated its advice was limited to English law only and was addressed to Lehman Brothers International Europe.^[45] The court-ordered report made no suggestions that Linklaters had acted illegally or unethically, or that its legal opinion was wrong.^[45]
• DLF Limited's £1.1 billion IPO in 2007,^[46] which saw the listing of India's largest real estate developer

References

External links

• Linklaters LLP

v t e Legal services in the United Kingdom Law of the United Kingdom Economy of the United Kingdom Law firms (List of largest UK-based firms) Current Addleshaw Goddard Allen & Overy Ashurst Berrymans Lace Mawer Berwin Leighton Paisner Bird & Bird Bristows Brodies Browne Jacobson Burges Salmon Burness Paull & Williamsons Charles Russell Clarke Willmott Clifford Chance Clyde & Co CMS Cameron McKenna Co-operative Legal Services DAC Beachcroft Dentons Dickson Minto DLA Piper1 Dundas & Wilson Eversheds Farrer & Co Field Fisher Waterhouse Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer Herbert Smith Freehills Hill Dickinson Hogan Lovells1 Holman Fenwick Willan King & Wood Mallesons SJ Berwin Ince & Co Irwin Mitchell Lawrence Graham Linklaters Macfarlanes Mishcon de Reya Morgan Cole Nabarro Norton Rose Fulbright Olswang Osborne Clarke Pinsent Masons QualitySolicitors Reynolds Porter Chamberlain Shepherd and Wedderburn Simmons & Simmons Slaughter and May Squire Sanders1 Stephenson Harwood Taylor Wessing TLT Solicitors Travers Smith Trowers & Hamlins Watson, Farley & Williams Withers Wragge & Co Defunct Addleshaw Booth & Co Barlow Lyde & Gilbert Cobbetts Denton Wilde Sapte Dickinson Dees Halliwells Hammonds Herbert Smith McGrigors Semple Fraser SNR Denton1 Theodore Goddard Barristers' chambers 11 King's Bench Walk Chambers 18 Red Lion Court 39 Essex Street 3PB 4 King's Bench Walk 5 Pump Court Chambers 5 Stone Buildings Blackstone Chambers Brick Court Chambers Cornerstone Barristers Doughty Street Chambers Essex Court Chambers Fountain Court Chambers Matrix Chambers New Square Chambers No5 Chambers One Essex Court Government, regulatory and industry bodies Chartered Institute of Patent Attorneys Chartered Institute of Legal Executives Inns of Court Gray's Inn Lincoln's Inn Inner Temple Middle Temple The Law Society Law Society of Northern Ireland Law Society of Scotland Legal Complaints Service Legal Services Board Ministry of Justice Solicitors Regulation Authority General Council of the Bar Other British lawyers (English lawyers Northern Irish lawyers Scottish lawyers Welsh lawyers) Law costs draftsman The Law Society Gazette The Lawyer Legal education in the United Kingdom Law schools in the United Kingdom Bar Professional Training Course Common Professional Examination Legal Practice Course Legal Services Act 2007 Lexcel Magic Circle Pupillage Silver Circle Training contract List of largest European law firms List of 100 largest law firms in the world 1Co-headquartered in the United States Category