The Legal 500

WilmerHale is a leading, full-service international law firms with 1,000 lawyers located throughout the United States, Europe and Asia. Lawyers work at the nexus of government, technology and business. Throughout its history, WilmerHale believes in unrelenting commitment to quality and excellence in everything it does, and it leverages its core strengths to better serve its clients.

The firm: The WilmerHale London office has nearly 50 lawyers and is a part of an integrated European practice of over 100 lawyers. These UK lawyers work closely with their colleagues in Brussels, Berlin and Frankfurt, as well as other offices in the US and Asia. The breadth of European and American legal traditions represented gives the firm a pronounced pan-European and transatlantic orientation that is reflected both in the work and the culture of the office.

Types of work undertaken: The international arbitration team has been involved in more than 600 proceedings in recent years. This practice group has successfully represented clients in four of the largest institutional arbitrations and several of the most significant ad hoc arbitrations to arise in the past decade. They also pride themselves on consistently achieving their client’s objectives in less sizable cases, through efficient staffing and the use of in-house know-how and precedents.

The UK corporate team advises on a wide range of commercial and corporate legal services to multi-national, non-US and US companies. Sensitive to the cultural and political aspects of international transactions, WilmerHale’s UK corporate lawyers regularly work on cross-border matters. As an integral part of the firm’s worldwide transactional practice, their lawyers are able to provide straightforward answers to multi jurisdiction business issues.

The labour and employment team offers a full range of employment and business immigration services. The UK-qualified employment lawyers have particular experience in advising US clients regarding their operations through the EU and further afield.

The aviation practice covers the panoply of regulatory, antitrust, corporate and litigation matters involving air carriers, airline alliances, airport operators, trade associations and civil aviation authorities. The firm has a wide range of industry-specific experience in strategic investments (including cross border), consolidation and the necessary regulatory approvals, issues arising from industry liberalization and bankruptcy proceedings.

The intellectual property team combines the specialised legal and technical skills normally associated with boutique intellectual property firms, with the broad business and litigation capabilities of a major general practice firm. The group focuses on a broad range of work across three main sectors: pharma/biotech licensing, university spin-outs and information technology.

The employee benefits and executive compensation team has, for many years, counseled clients on the design of executive compensation arrangements and on compensation and benefits issues in general.

Technology transactions and licensing — this group of lawyers leverage technical knowledge, business acumen and legal experience to structure, prepare and negotiate technology-related agreements. They apply the depth and breadth of their expertise to generate value for their clients.

Other offices: Beijing, Berlin, Boston, Brussels, Frankfurt, Los Angeles, New York, Oxford, Palo Alto, Waltham, Washington DC

Breakdown of work %
Corporate 21
Litigation (international arbitration) 69
Competition 3
Aviation 3
Employment 2
Tax 2

Number of UK partners 11
Number of other UK fee-earners 48