Law Firm: Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP (informally Freshfields) is a multinational law firm headquartered in London and a member of the Magic Circle of elite British law firms.

In 2013-14 it achieved total revenues of £1.232 billion and average profit per equity partner (PEP) of £1.48 million.

It has 27 offices in 17 jurisdictions across Asia, Europe, the Middle East and North America. It advises national and multinational corporations, financial institutions and governments.

Freshfields is the oldest firm within the Magic Circle.

Freshfields is reported to be the most profitable firm amongst its peer group, with the highest reported profit margin amongst the five magic circle firms.

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer was created in 2000 when the UK-based Freshfields merged with Germany-based Deringer Tessin Herrmann & Sedemund and the German-Austrian law firm Bruckhaus Westrick Heller Löber.

Freshfields traced its origins back to 1743, when Samuel Dodd was appointed solicitor to the Bank of England. The firm changed its name as different partners joined or left until James William Freshfield (1775–1864) was elected partner.  James Freshfield, his sons and grandsons worked at the firm until the last Freshfield retired in 1918. Historic clients included William Gladstone, Sir Robert Peel and Nathan Meyer Rothschild.

Bruckhaus Westrick Heller Laber traced its history back to Hamburg in 1840; at the time of the merger it was one of the two largest law firms in Germany.

Deringer Tessin Herrmann & Sedemund was founded in 1962 by Arved Deringer and Claus Tessin and had been based in Cologne since 1970.

In 2007, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer went through a restructuring of its business, which involved redundancies and reducing the number of equity partnerships. In 2008 the firm converted to a limited liability partnership (LLP).