Jump to content

Clyde & Co

Add links
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Clyde & Co
HeadquartersSt Botolph Building
London, EC3
United Kingdom
No. of offices60+[1]
No. of lawyers2,600[2]
No. of employees5,000[2]
Major practice areasInsurance, Energy, Trade & Commodities, Infrastructure and Transport[3]
Revenue£788.6 million (2022-23)[4]
Date founded1933
Company typeLimited liability partnership
Websiteclydeco.com

Clyde & Co is a global law firm headquartered in London, United Kingdom.[3][5] The firm is one of the top 10 largest law firms in the City of London and has the largest dispute resolution practice of any UK law firm.[6] It employs 2,600 legal professionals and more than 5,000 total staff.[2] In 2022–23, Clyde & Co's revenue was £788.6 million.[7]

History

[edit]

Clyde & Co was founded by Scottish lawyer Richard Arthur Clyde. He came from a distinguished legal family, which in the last century has produced two Lords of the Court of Session in Scotland. Richard Clyde's nephew, the late Lord Clyde, was a Lord of Appeal in Ordinary from 1996 to 2001.

The earliest record of Dick Clyde as a solicitor in independent practice dates to 1928. In 1933, he left his position as an assistant solicitor with a local firm and set up his own office in Lime Street in the heart of London's insurance district. He managed to attract instructions from Lloyd's underwriters and insurance companies, and within a short time went into partnership with Maurice Hill, a member of the founding family of the Liverpool solicitors, Hill Dickinson and a descendant of Sir Rowland Hill, who had established the penny post.

Michael Payton, who joined the firm in 1966, assumed the post of Senior Partner in 1984, and was named chairman in 2013, with James Burns elected to take his place as Senior Partner.

Expansion

[edit]

Reflecting the firm's growing international outlook, in 1981 Clyde & Co opened its first overseas office in Hong Kong.[8] The firm became the first international law office to open in Libya after the overthrow of the Gaddafi regime, with the opening of an office in Tripoli in August 2012.[9] In recent years, the firm has opened new offices in Sydney, Beijing, and Madrid.[10][8][11][12][13] Clyde now has over 60 offices in six continents.[14]

In 2011, the firm announced mergers with Canadian firm Nicholl Paskell-Mede and UK firm Barlow Lyde & Gilbert (BLG), not to be confused with Canadian law firm Borden Ladner Gervais. The merger with Barlow Lyde & Gilbert was reported as the largest merger between two UK law firms with an expected turnover of over £300 million.[15] In September 2015, the firm merged with leading Scottish firm Simpson & Marwick.[16] In 2022, the firm announced that it would merge with BLM, another law firm.[17] The combined firm now goes by the Clyde & Co name, has 2,600 lawyers in 60 offices, and has an annual revenue of more than £700 million.

Controversy

[edit]

In 2010, while working in Tanzania, former partner Krista Bates blew the whistle on an African lawyer working in association with Clyde & Co. who was involved in bribery and money laundering. After being suspended and expelled from the partnership in 2011, she sued, claiming whistle-blower status. Clyde & Co. argued that Bates couldn't claim whistle-blower status because she was a partner in the business, not an employed worker.[18] In May 2014, the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom ruled in favor of Bates, stating that LLP members are "workers" for the purpose of whistleblowing protection, granting them the same benefits as workers.[19] After the ruling, in June 2014, Bates joined the African airline Fastjet as its general counsel.[20]

In September 2020, in connection with the investigations into $4.5 billion missing from 1MDB, a $330 million account held by Clyde & Co was named in a civil forfeiture case filed by US Department of Justice prosecutors, who alleged the account was connected to a failed joint project with Venezuela's PDVSA which was established by 1MDB and a company established by Tarek Obaid, PetroSaudi.[21]

Clyde & Co provided legal representation to an offshore company set up by Gennady Timchenko, a Russian oligarch and close Vladimir Putin confidante.[22]

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "All Offices". www.clydeco.com.
  2. ^ a b c "Clyde & Co's £700m merger with BLM goes live". www.globallegalpost.com.
  3. ^ a b "Clydes reports 13% revenue increase for 2015-16 as PEP nudges up to new high". LegalWeek.com.
  4. ^ "/ "Clyde & Co's revenue grows by 20% after 25th consecutive year of growth".
  5. ^ "London, The St Botolph Building : Clyde & Co". www.clydeco.com. Retrieved 2022-11-29.
  6. ^ "Clyde & Co LLP, UK 2023". Chambers and Partners.
  7. ^ "Clyde & Co's revenue grows by 20% after 25th consecutive year of growth". Clydeco.com.
  8. ^ a b "About us : Clyde & Co (en)". www.clydeco.com.
  9. ^ "Clyde & Co to open Tripoli office". Financial Times.
  10. ^ "Clydes seals double Australia launch with team hire from Links ally Allens". LegalWeek.com.
  11. ^ "Clyde & Co continues Americas push with Mexico launch". LegalWeek.com.
  12. ^ "Clyde & Co opens ninth US office with Los Angeles launch". LegalWeek.com.
  13. ^ "Clydes to launch in Hamburg with four-partner team from Ince". Law.com International.
  14. ^ "Locations | Clyde & Co : Clyde & Co".
  15. ^ "Clydes and Barlows to vote on merger deal by end of July". LegalWeek.com.
  16. ^ "Clyde & Co Launches in Scotland With Simpson & Marwick merger : Clyde & Co (en)". www.clydeco.com.
  17. ^ Merken, Sara (28 March 2022). "Clyde & Co to form 2,600 lawyer shop in merger with UK firm BLM". reuters.com.
  18. ^ Chellel, Kit (21 May 2014). "Law Firm Partner Wins Whistle-Blower Case at U.K. Supreme Court". Bloomberg.
  19. ^ Lawyer, The (May 21, 2014). "Supreme Court: LLP members are protected by whistle-blowing legislation". The Lawyer | Legal insight, benchmarking data and jobs.
  20. ^ Newman, Alex. "Ex-Clyde & Co whistleblower partner joins low-cost airline as GC". Law.com.
  21. ^ Davies, Harry (September 18, 2020). US moves to seize $330m of alleged 1MDB assets held by UK law firm . Department of Justice says money in Clyde & Co's account allegedly linked to Malaysian fraud scandal. The Guardian. Retrieved October 1, 2020.
  22. ^ "Who helps Russian oligarchs secretly buy jets, yachts and other luxury playthings? - ICIJ". 2022-04-11. Retrieved 2022-04-12.
[edit]
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Clyde_%26_Co&oldid=1244236501"