- Number of UK partners: 181
- Number of other UK fee-earners : 710
- Total number of staff: 1579
THE FIRM
BLP is a leading international law firm with over 850 fee-earners, including more than 200 partners based across nine global offices – London, Abu Dhabi, Berlin, Brussels, Frankfurt, Hong Kong,Moscow, Paris and Singapore. Having opened three new offices in 2011 alone, the firm continues to grow both in the UK and internationally. BLP has a reputation as one of the most respected and innovative law firms, they recorded an eight percent increase in revenue growth in 2011-12 to £246m and an increase in net profit to £93m. They were the fastest growing UK top-20 law firm in 2009-11. The firm has flexible and proactively managed relationships with more than 100 leading ‘preferred firms’ in over 65 countries. This network of preferred firms works seamlessly with BLP’s own office network offering clients one-stop, full-service expertise covering all areas of their legal service needs, including: commercial law; competition, EU and trade; corporate finance; employment and pensions; finance; funds and financial services; intellectual property; litigation and dispute resolution; projects; real estate, planning and construction; regulatory and compliance; restructuring and insolvency; and tax – private and commercial. BLP is ranked in over 70 legal disciplines by leading independent directories, their clients include FTSE 100 companies and financial institutions, major multinationals, the public sector, entrepreneurial private businesses and individuals.The firm has worked with eight of the world’s top 10 banks and one third of their business feeds from clients who have been with them for over 10 years. In 2011-12, BLP hired 30 leading laterals to bolster core areas of the firm’s expertise. Its real estate capabilities are the most highly regarded in the UK, it has one of the largest and broadest tax teams in the City, and the firm further strengthened its teams in corporate finance, EU, competition and trade, finance, financial services, litigation and dispute resolution, and structured products. BLP is also renowned for responding creatively to the challenges clients face. For example, Lawyers On Demand provides a high-quality pool of flexible, freelance lawyers offered to clients at low cost as and when needed, while Managed Legal Service enables clients to use BLP to manage their legal needs under a long term, fixed-price deal with guaranteed levels of service. In recognition of their commitment to new approaches to legal service, the FT Innovative Lawyer Awards 2011 ranked BLP fifth in Europe in terms of innovation. The firm has also won the FT Innovative Lawyers Client Service Award twice – in 2008 and 2010 for LOD and MLS respectively – and Goltsblat BLP, the firm’s Moscow practice, was named International Law Office of the Year 2010 at the Legal Business Awards.
PRINCIPAL AREAS OF WORK
BLP lawyers are ranked in over 60 areas of legal expertise and have extensive experience across 20 industry sectors. These include: commercial contracts; corporate finance; defence and aerospace; dispute resolution; energy and natural resources; competition, EU and trade; finance; healthcare and education; hotels, leisure and gaming; human resources; insurance; intellectual property; outsourcing; public sector; real estate; retail; regulatory and compliance; restructuring and insolvency; tax; technology, media and telecoms; and transport and infrastructure.
INTERNATIONAL
In the past four years, BLP’s international growth has more than doubled across key work completed via the firm’s own office network and also in tandem with the preferred firms network. Strong relationships with a non-exclusive panel of leading independent local law firms around the world, has allowed BLP clients access to three times as many tier-1 ranked legal practices in Asia and Europe than any ‘global’ law firm. This means the firm delivers the highest quality local advice in a flexible, seamless way that reflects the circumstances of each jurisdiction and the requirements of each matter. From Argentina to Zimbabwe, BLP has successfully supported clients across 130 different jurisdictions in the past three years. Other offices: Abu Dhabi, Berlin, Brussels, Frankfurt, Hong Kong, Moscow, Paris, and Singapore.
RECRUITMENT
One of BLP’s core goals is to be a better place to work than competitors. As part of this goal, the firm embraces diversity and is committed to its social responsibility – over 30 languages are spoken at BLP and more than 30 percent of BLP staff dedicate time to CSR activities. The firm consistently promotes from within while also investing in hiring further key individuals with the right specialist skills in chosen practice areas and industry sectors – more than 50 lateral hires and 80 partner/associate director promotions in the last five years. Further details are available via: www.blplaw.com, Twitter – BLPLaw, LinkedIn – Berwin Leighton Paisner.
Areas of PracticeLondon Corporate: 31%
Real Estate: 28%
Finance: 16%
Dispute Resolution: 15%
Tax: 10%