Mishcon de Reya

Mishcon de Reya LLP is a British law firm with offices in London and Singapore.[1] Founded in 1937, it currently employs more than 900 people with over 500 lawyers.[2] It is regarded as forming part of the "Silver Circle" of leading UK law firms.[3][4]

Mishcon de Reya LLP
HeadquartersLondon, United Kingdom
No. of officesTwo
No. of lawyersOver 500
No. of employeesOver 900
Major practice areasCorporate, Dispute Resolution, Employment, Intellectual Property, Mishcon Private, Real Estate
Key peopleKevin Gold
Executive Chairperson
James Libson
Managing Partner
Revenue£149.4 million
Profit per equity partner£1.2 million
Date founded1937 (London)
Company typeLimited liability partnership
Websitemishcon.com

In March 2017, the firm was announced Law Firm of the Year at the Legal Business Awards.[5] Mishcon de Reya achieved revenue of £177.8m in 2018/19- an increase of 10% from 2017/18. PEP (Profit per Senior Equity Partner) hit £1m in 2018.[6]

In 2020 the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) announced that their forensic and anti-money laundering investigators were conducting a multi year investigation into the company's activities.[7]

Main practice areas

Mishcon de Reya's main practice areas are:

  • Corporate
  • Dispute Resolution
  • Employment
  • Intellectual Property
  • Mishcon Private
  • Real Estate

History

Mishcon de Reya was formed by the merger of Victor Mishcon & Co, a one-man office founded by Victor Mishcon, and Bartletts de Reya.

In 2008, the firm launched the specialist 'Pink Law' Legal Advice Centre in conjunction with Queen Mary, University of London and two other city law firms. The project offers free and impartial legal advice on issues affecting the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) community, such as employment discrimination, civil partnerships and cohabitation.[8]

The firm became a limited liability partnership on 9 October 2015.

Mishcon de Reya was named Law Firm of the Year at The Legal Business Awards 2017.[9]

Mishcon de Reya has also been associated with the murdered Maltese journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia. According to The Guardian newspaper:

"In the months before her death, the anti-corruption journalist received letters from the London office of the blue-chip firm Mishcon de Reya, which specialises in bringing defamation cases. Mishcon had been hired to defend the reputation of a client doing business in Malta. 'The firm sought to cripple her financially with libel action in UK courts,' Caruana Galizia’s three sons claim in a letter to the writers’ campaign group English PEN and seen by the Guardian. 'Had our mother not been murdered, they would have succeeded.'”[10]

According to the British satirical magazine, Private Eye:

"Daphne also wrote about receiving 'harassing letters from Mishcon de Reya in London' that threatened 'to ruin me financially in a London court.' Letters from Mishcon, seen by the Eye, order her to remove articles discussing the lucrative sale of Maltese passports and the EU citizenship that goes with them."[11]

Notable clients

In 1995, the firm gained attention when Anthony Julius represented Diana, Princess of Wales in her divorce.

In 2000, the firm represented Deborah Lipstadt in the case David Irving v Penguin Books and Deborah Lipstadt. The 2016 film Denial was based on this case.

Mishcon de Reya's Employment team won a ground-breaking victory in the UK Supreme Court on behalf of its client, Krista Bates van Winkelhof, in which it was determined that members of LLPs do have the protection of whistleblowing legislation.[12]

In 2016 the Supreme Court ruled financial claims can be brought over 20 years after divorce for client Kathleen Wyatt.[13]

In 2016 the company co-ordinated a challenge in the High Court by Gina Miller, an investment manager and philanthropist, against the process of the United Kingdom's withdrawal from the European Union.[14] The Government in January 2017, appealed the High Court ruling to the Supreme Court, but were unsuccessful. In a majority decision, it ruled that Parliament must vote on whether the Government can start the process of the United Kingdom's withdrawal from the European Union.[15]

In 2019 the Court of Appeal overturned the Judgment of Mr Justice Warby dated 8 October 2018 which had refused Mishcon de Reya's client, Richard Lloyd, permission to serve a representative action on Google LLC. The claim relates to what is known as the "Safari Workaround" - Google's alleged unlawful and clandestine tracking of iPhone users in 2011 and 2012 without their consent through the use of third party cookies.[16]

See also

In 2016, Mishcon de Reya and children's charity Place2Be produced a book written for adults by children on the topic of parental separation 'Splitting Up: A Child's Guide to a Grown Up Problem'.[17]

References

  1. https://www.lawgazette.co.uk/news/upbeat-mishcon-picks-singapore-for-first-asia-office-/5104156.article
  2. "The Legal 500 > Mishcon de Reya LLP > London, ENGLAND > What the firm says". www.legal500.com. Retrieved 24 May 2017.
  3. "Who are the silver circle law firms and how it has changed". 19 September 2017.
  4. viola.zoldy. "The long read: How the silver circle shattered - Lawyers4law".
  5. McAteer, Mark. "Mishcon, A&O and Freshfields major winners at 2017 Legal Business Awards | www.legalbusiness.co.uk". www.legalbusiness.co.uk. Retrieved 24 May 2017.
  6. "Firm revenue grows 10% in 2018/19 financial year". Mishcon de Reya.
  7. Davies, Harry; Garside, Juliette (9 September 2020). "Regulators investigate elite London law firm Mishcon de Reya". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 9 September 2020.
  8. "Mishcon joins 'Pink Law' advice initiative". The Lawyer. 17 November 2008. Retrieved 17 March 2017.
  9. "Mishcon, A&O and Freshfields are major winners at 2017 Legal Business awards". Legal Business. 24 March 2017. Retrieved 24 March 2017.
  10. Garside, Juliette (1 June 2018). "Murdered Maltese reporter faced threat of libel action in UK". The Guardian. Retrieved 25 July 2020.
  11. Ratbiter, (Pseudonym) (4 May 2018). "Legal News". Private Eye.
  12. "Clydes settles whistleblowing claim with former partner Bates van Winkelhof". The Lawyer. 19 August 2014. Retrieved 11 May 2017.
  13. "Woman could win cash payout 20 years after divorce". BBC News. 11 March 2016. Retrieved 11 May 2017.
  14. Bowcott, Owen (19 July 2016). "Theresa May does not intend to trigger article 50 this year, court told". The Guardian. Retrieved 19 July 2016.
  15. Corporation, British Broadcasting (24 January 2017). "Brexit: Supreme Court says Parliament must give Article 50 go-ahead". BBC. Retrieved 24 January 2017.
  16. "Google 'tracking iPhone users' case goes ahead". BBC.
  17. "How does it feel when your parents divorce? Children speak out". The Times. 24 January 2017. Retrieved 10 September 2016.
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