OFFSHORE: Offshore cracks open the door.
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The offshore world is one consolidated market. For the first time, The Lawyer reveals the top 20 offshore firms in the world. By Gemma Westacott The reluctance of offshore law firms to open up their books is the stuff of legend. But while firms in most other markets, even the notoriously tight- lipped Dublin, have begun to provide an insight into their financial figures, the same cannot be said for the offshore legal market. Even digging out statistics on partner numbers at some firms can prove a headache. This makes for an interesting predicament as offshore firms grapple to improve further their reputation as transparent and legitimate operations. For this inaugural Offshore Survey The Lawyer quizzed around 100 firms across all of the offshore jurisdictions on their financial performances, partnerships and practices. Of the almost 40 firms that responded, only five provided turnover. The Jersey-headquartered Mourant du Feu & Jeune was the most notable player to break this pact of silence, revelling in a 17 per cent increase in fee income in the past year to report an annual turnover for 2005 of GBP23m. The Cayman Islands’ Stuarts Walker Hersant should also be applauded for its willingness to go on the public record with a turnover of $4m (GBP2.3m). Not bad for a firm with only 20 staff, including four partners - although this unfortunately means that the firm falls short of The Lawyer’s rankings for the top 20 offshore law firms based on number of partners. Guernsey-based AO Hall similarly misses out on a place in the rankings. With just two partners, the firm is anticipating a turnover for 2006 of GBP900,000. Founded by two former partners of Carey Olsen, the firm extols an impressive client list, including Credit Suisse (Guernsey). At the opposite end of the scale are those firms that declined to participate in the survey (most notably Jersey-based Sinels) and those that failed to respond altogether. Curiously, this latter group included the Bermuda-based Cox Hallett Wilkinson and Gibraltar’s Marrache & Co, which only weeks before had been trying to drum up publicity for its new office in Prague in the Czech Republic, which was launched in October. Isle of Man firm Cains is also notably missing from the rankings, but not for its lack of response. Unfortunately, the firm falls just shy of the rankings with six partners and a total of 71 staff, despite boasting an impressive client list, which includes Barclays, HSBC and Cathay Pacific. Based on number of partners, the Cayman-headquartered Maples and Calder takes the top ranking with 46 partners, followed by Swiss firm Lenz… |