Harney Westwood & Riegels

Head offices of Harney Westwood & Riegels

Harney Westwood & Riegels (or Harneys) is an offshore magic circle law firm headquartered in the British Virgin Islands (BVI). It also has offices in the Cayman Islands, Cyprus, Hong Kong, London, Montevideo, Singapore, and Vancouver, and an affiliated office in Mauritius. It offers advice in Anguillan, BVI, Caymanian, Cypriot and Mauritius law. The current managing partner is Peter Tarn.

History

Harneys is the oldest and largest legal practice in the BVI. Combined with its affiliated fiduciary services business, Harneys is the second largest private employer in the BVI. The firm began in 1960 when Harold Harney formed the first resident legal practice to be set up in the BVI. He was joined by Neville Westwood in 1967 and Michael Riegels in 1973.

Notable Harneys alumni include:

The firm has worked closely with the government of the BVI over the years in relation to the development of the offshore finance industry in the Territory. Three of the partners of the firm formed part of the "gang of five" that drafted the original International Business Companies Act, and members of the firm were also closely involved in the drafting of subsequent key legislation including the Insolvency Act 2003, the BVI Business Companies Act 2004 and the Securities and Investment Business Act 2010.

Offices

Recently the firm has expanded steadily, with office openings in Anguilla (1998), London (2002), Hong Kong (2005), the Cayman Islands (2008), Cyprus (2009), Montevideo (2010) and Singapore (2014). In 2013 the firm entered into a strategic alliance with BLC Chambers in Mauritius to give it Mauritius legal capability.

Practice

Specialising in corporate and commercial law, the firm is especially well known for its corporate & finance, investment funds and commercial litigation practices. It also had dedicated practice groups relating to regulatory compliance (including tax information exchange) and sanctions.

Partners at Harneys wrote the first, and to date only, legal textbook on British Virgin Islands law: British Virgin Islands commercial law, published by Sweet & Maxwell, now in its second edition.[1]

Harneys is also one of only two law firms in the world (the other being Allen & Overy) which provides official opinions to ISDA on close-out netting for three or more jurisdictions (BVI, Anguilla and Cyprus).[2]

Rankings

Harneys is ranked in most of the jurisdictions in which it practices (normally in Band 1) of various international legal directories. As of 2014, Harney's ratings include:

Harneys Legal Directory Rankings (2014)
Jurisdiction Practice Area Ranking Position
Chambers Global
Anguilla General Business Law Band 1[3]
British Virgin Islands Financial & Corporate Band 1[4]
British Virgin Islands Dispute Resolution Band 1[5]
Cayman Islands Financial & Corporate Band 4[6]
Cayman Islands Dispute Resolution Band 3[7]
Cyprus Corporate / Commercial Band 2[8]
Mauritius General Business Law Band 1[9]
IFLR 1000
British Virgin Islands Financial & Corporate Tier 1[10]
British Virgin Islands Investment Funds Tier 1[11]
Cayman Islands Financial & Corporate Tier 4[12]
Cayman Islands Investment Funds Tier 3[13]
Mauritius Financial & Corporate Tier 1[14]
Legal 500
Anguilla General No rankings[15]
British Virgin Islands Corporate & Commercial Tier 1[16]
British Virgin Islands Dispute Resolution Tier 1[17]
Cayman Islands Corporate & Commercial Tier 3[18]
Cayman Islands Corporate & Commercial Tier 3[19]
Cyprus Banking and Finance Tier 2[20]
Cyprus Corporate and M&A Tier 2[21]
Mauritius General No rankings[22]

CSR and Philanthropy

Harneys is involved in a number of charitable and philanthropic causes, predominantly in the British Virgin Islands. Harneys sponsors and financially supports the Francis Lettsome Primary School.[23] The firm provides pro bono legal services to a number of organisations including Green VI, an environmental NGO, and Sir Richard Branson's Nature Conservation Project. Members of the firm also serve as non-executive directors of the BVI Humane Society, the BVI Paralympics Organisation, and Virgin Islands Search and Rescue.

External links

Footnotes

  1. ↑ British Virgin Islands Commercial Law (2nd ed.). Sweet & Maxwell. 2012. ISBN 9789626614792.
  2. ↑ http://www2.isda.org/functional-areas/legal-and-documentation/opinions/ (Login and password required)
  3. ↑ http://www.chambersandpartners.com/16/852/Editorial/2/1
  4. ↑ http://www.chambersandpartners.com/42/884/Editorial/2/1
  5. ↑ http://www.chambersandpartners.com/42/467/Editorial/2/1
  6. ↑ http://www.chambersandpartners.com/42/467/Editorial/2/1
  7. ↑ http://www.chambersandpartners.com/53/467/Editorial/2/1
  8. ↑ http://www.chambersandpartners.com/68/242/Editorial/2/1
  9. ↑ http://www.chambersandpartners.com/68/242/Editorial/2/1
  10. ↑ http://www.iflr1000.com/Jurisdiction/27/British-Virgin-Islands.html
  11. ↑ http://www.iflr1000.com/Jurisdiction/27/British-Virgin-Islands.html
  12. ↑ http://www.iflr1000.com/Jurisdiction/33/Cayman-Islands.html
  13. ↑ http://www.iflr1000.com/Jurisdiction/33/Cayman-Islands.html
  14. ↑ http://www.iflr1000.com/Jurisdiction/82/Mauritius.html
  15. ↑ http://www.legal500.com/c/anguilla/directory
  16. ↑ http://www.legal500.com/c/british-virgin-islands/corporate-and-commercial
  17. ↑ http://www.legal500.com/c/british-virgin-islands/trusts-private-client
  18. ↑ http://www.legal500.com/c/cayman-islands/corporate-and-commercial
  19. ↑ http://www.legal500.com/c/cayman-islands/corporate-and-commercial
  20. ↑ http://www.legal500.com/c/cyprus/banking-and-finance
  21. ↑ http://www.legal500.com/c/cyprus/corporate-and-manda
  22. ↑ http://www.legal500.com/c/mauritius/directory
  23. ↑ http://www.bvihotpress.com/latest-news/item/4328-harneys-donate-20-computers-to-francis-lettsome-primary.html