Established in 1982, SJ Berwin LLP is an international law firm with offices in Berlin, Brussels, Dubai, Frankfurt, Hong Kong, London, Madrid, Milan, Munich, Paris and Shanghai.
The firm: With around 150 partners and more than 450 lawyers, SJ Berwin is a full-service firm that not only offers a breadth of legal services but also brings teams together from across the legal disciplines to form industry-focused groups, such as financial markets, consumer, real estate, energy and infrastructure, life science and healthcare, TMT, investment funds, and private equity.
Types of work undertaken: Corporate finance – a full range of corporate finance services, which extends to all aspects of domestic and cross-border M&A and buyouts, private equity, fund formation and buyouts, equity capital markets, financial services and tax, coupled with an expanding and active international finance practice.
Finance – the firm acts for a wide variety of UK and international financial institutions and is on the formal panels of many clearing and institutional banks. It advises on all aspects of finance transactions, including acquisition finance, real estate finance, structured finance, asset finance, trade finance and regulatory banking law.
Intellectual property – international trade mark, copyright and patent litigation, international trade mark registration, and the identification, exploitation and protection of intellectual property rights.
Commerce and technology – the firm deals with commercial legal issues, with a heavy emphasis on intellectual property and technology, drafting and negotiating agreements for clients to put their domestic and international commercial arrangements into place.
Employment and pensions – all aspects of contentious and non-contentious employment and pensions law for employers and pension schemes across all industries, including financial institutions, retail and manufacturing, media, technology, and leisure.
EU and competition – domestic and EU mergers and acquisitions, competition, state aid, trade and customs, regulatory work, and judicial review proceedings.
Financial markets – the group serves the global asset management and securities industry. Clients include all participants in the financial markets who trade, manage or provide facilities for trading or settlement of securities (including derivative instruments and commodities), and include both traditional and alternative (hedge, private equity, real estate and commodities) asset managers, brokers and dealers in all forms of financial instruments, and both physical and electronic stock exchanges, trading platforms and clearing and settlement systems.
Litigation – this group handles a broad range of complex High Court commercial litigation, often involving multi-jurisdictional elements. Specialist litigation areas include banking and securities litigation, as well as fraud. A significant international arbitration capability includes three arbitrators. The litigation practice also includes a specialist IT and telecoms litigation group, a property litigation group and an advocacy group.
Media and communications – extensive experience in almost every area of the media and communications industry, broadcasting and communications, digital media, merchandising and publishing, computer games, e-commerce and m-commerce, and music.
Real estate – all aspects of commercial real estate work are handled for various clients, including property companies, developers, institutions, retailers and hoteliers. In addition, specialist groups advise on property finance, public and private funding programmes for major infrastructure projects, construction, and local government finance issues.
Reconstruction and insolvency – complex insolvency restructurings and work-outs for corporate and financial institutions, and appointment work for a range of clients, including large investors, finance houses, venture capitalists and major accountancy firms.
Tax – national and international taxation advice, advising corporate clients and individuals on structuring their tax affairs and transactions in the most efficient way.
International – SJ Berwin has 11 offices in Europe, East Asia and the Middle East. The London office is a member of the Interlaw network.
Other offices: Berlin, Brussels, Dubai, Frankfurt, Hong Kong, Madrid, Milan, Munich, Paris, Shanghai
Number of UK partners 90
Number of other UK fee-earners 294
Above material supplied by SJ Berwin LLP.