The Legal 500

Speechly Bircham is an ambitious, full-service law firm with over 250 lawyers, headquartered in London. The firm works with business and private clients across the UK and internationally and focuses on the financial services, private wealth, technology, real estate and construction sectors.

The firm: The firm is particularly well known for its work in the financial services sector, notably in the areas of investment and wealth management, and for private client work in the UK and internationally.

The firm’s international capabilities span three key European financial centres, with offices in London, Luxembourg and Zurich, making it one of the few UK law firms able to offer integrated corporate, tax, regulatory, funds and private client work to companies, banks, fund managers, wealthy individuals and private offices in Europe.

Types of work undertaken: Whether supporting a corporate transaction, helping to solve a commercial dispute, advising on employment rights and obligations, protecting data or intellectual property, or helping resolve commercial disputes, Speechlys delivers clear legal and commercial advice.

Speechly Bircham teams’ include sector experts, many of whom have worked client side and are immersed in their industries, often contributing to sector debates and driving policy within their sectors.

Private wealth: Speechly Bircham’s private wealth clients include families and family offices, successful entrepreneurs, private banks and wealth managers in the UK and around the world. The firm’s success comes from the ability to combine specialist resources and bring together experts from across the firm to help clients preserve and enhance their wealth, whether the firm is advising on commercial and regulatory issues, tax, protecting their assets, facilitating their philanthropy or managing family issues. The firm recognises that every individual, family and business is faced with differing choices, challenges and objectives, so teams and resources are structured in a way that best responds to those needs.

Financial services: the Speechlys’ financial services team is a key part of a comprehensive offering to the sector. The team’s business is to be at the forefront of legal and regulatory changes affecting the sector, so that they can guide and support our clients. This is especially true as financial services businesses are coming under greater scrutiny from the public, investors, government and the media. Services include legal and tax advice to the private clients of financial services firms operating in the private wealth sector; advice to clients involved in corporate transactions or restructurings; specialist tax advice on issues arising from the constitutional structure and framework of client businesses, the structuring of banking and investment products offered by financial sector firms to their clients, and on the taxation implications of remuneration and incentives;  disputes and regulatory investigations, and commercial contracts, data protection, outsourcing, employment and immigration.

Real estate and construction: Speechly Bircham’s multidisciplinary teams provide advice to investors, developers, occupiers, contractors and engineers. Clients include financial institutions, funds, corporate and private investors, as well as major house-builders, construction and infrastructure companies. Operating across all major real estate sectors including commercial and industrial property; strategic land and regeneration; urban estates; healthcare; retail and leisure, the team of construction and engineering lawyers also handle major construction and infrastructure projects and disputes, both domestically and internationally.

Technology: the converging world requires integrated legal thinking to empower a business. Speechly Bircham’s technology team brings together UK and dual-qualified lawyers and offers a wealth and depth of experience in all legal aspects relating to technology and telecommunications. The firm’s objective is to protect clients’ corporate reputation by building effective commercial contracts which are robust, fit for purpose and with a strong emphasis on effective contract governance. The firm’s data and information experts help clients on a diverse range of specialist issues, from data protection and freedom of information to computer misuse and identity theft. The firm also has a market-leading disputes practice which specialises in acting on high value insured technology and IP disputes – using litigation and dispute resolution skills to resolve disputes at the earliest opportunity and at minimal cost. The firm also works with insurers to develop innovative insurance policies – including specialist IP insurance and reputation management policies. This breadth of experience, combined with the team’s multidisciplinary approach and high standards of delivery, is designed to meet companies’ UK, European and global needs.

Number of UK partners 87
Number of other UK fee-earners 172