The Big Four are the four largest professional services networks in the world: Deloitte, EY, KPMG, and PwC. They are the four largest global accounting networks as measured by revenue. The four are often grouped because they are comparable in size relative to the rest of the market, both in terms of revenue and workforce; they are considered equal in their ability to provide a wide scope of professional services to their clients; and, among those looking to start a career in professional services, particularly accounting, they are considered equally attractive networks to work in, because of the frequency with which these firms engage with Fortune 500 companies.
David James Fletcher Hunt, Baron Hunt of Wirral, is a British Conservative politician who served as a member of the Cabinet during the Thatcher and Major ministries, and was appointed to the Privy Council in 1990.
A law firm is a business entity formed by one or more lawyers to engage in the practice of law. The primary service rendered by a law firm is to advise clients about their legal rights and responsibilities, and to represent clients in civil or criminal cases, business transactions, and other matters in which legal advice and other assistance are sought.
Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP is an American white-shoe law firm headquartered in New York City. The firm has additional offices in London and Washington, D.C.
Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP, doing business as Arnold & Porter, is an American multinational law firm. It is a white-shoe firm and among the largest law firms in the world, both by revenue and by number of lawyers.
Clifford Chance LLP is a British multinational law firm headquartered in London, England, and a member of the "Magic Circle", a group of leading London-based multinational law firms.
White & Case LLP is a global white-shoe law firm based in New York City. Founded in 1901, the firm has 46 offices in 31 countries worldwide.
Allen & Overy LLP was a British multinational law firm headquartered in London, England. The firm has 590 partners and over 5,800 employees worldwide. In 2023 A&O reported an increase in revenue to GBP2.1 billion and is the second largest law firm headquartered in the UK by revenue.
Olswang was an international law firm headquartered in London, United Kingdom and with additional offices in Reading, Brussels, Madrid, Paris, Singapore and, since 2011, Munich. It worked closely with a network of firms across eighty countries. The Lawyer ranked the firm 22nd largest in the UK by worldwide turnover in 2010. That year, the firm had over 600 staff, including 97 partners. David Stewart was the firm's chief executive. On 1 May 2017, Olswang merged with CMS Cameron McKenna and Nabarro to form CMS Nabarro Olswang LLP.
Womble Bond Dickinson is a transatlantic law firm formed in 2017 as a result of a merger between UK-based Bond Dickinson LLP and US-based Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice, LLP. The combination followed a strategic alliance announcement made in 2016. The firm has 32 locations across the United States and the United Kingdom offering services in 12 different sectors.
Mishcon de Reya LLP is a British international law firm with offices in London, Cambridge, Oxford, Singapore, as well as an association with Karas So LLP in Hong Kong. Founded in 1937, it employs more than 1450 people with over 650 lawyers. It is regarded by some as forming part of the "Silver Circle" of leading UK law firms.
Hammonds LLP, also known as Hammonds Suddards, was an international law firm headquartered in Leeds, United Kingdom, with offices in Beijing, Berlin, Birmingham, Bradford, Brussels, Hong Kong, Leeds, Madrid, Manchester, Munich and Paris. The firm had associate relationships with Rossotto, Colombatto & Partners in Italy and with Zhigachoff in Russia.
Salans LLP was an international commercial law firm. It was founded in 1978 in Paris as Salans Hertzfeld & Heilbronn and in March 2013 merged with the Anglo-American law firm SNR Denton and the Canada-based law firm Fraser Milner Casgrain, forming Dentons.
McGrigors LLP was a UK Top 50 law firm with offices in six British cities as well as Qatar and the Falkland Islands. The firm merged with international law firm Pinsent Masons in 2012.
Clyde & Co is a global law firm headquartered in London, United Kingdom. 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. It employs 2,600 legal professionals and more than 5,000 total staff. In 2022–23, Clyde & Co's revenue was £788.6 million.
Mark Howard Stephens is an English solicitor specializing in media law, intellectual property rights, freedom of speech and human rights. He is known for representing James Hewitt when allegations of his affair with Diana, Princess of Wales first emerged. In 2010, he represented Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks, defending him against an extradition request to Sweden based on suspicion of numerous sexual offences. He also founded the law firm Howard Kennedy LLP, which has represented several high-profile clients in media and entertainment law cases.
King & Wood Mallesons (KWM) is an international commercial law firm based in Asia-Pacific. It is the largest international law firm in Asia-Pacific. It has 26 offices and more than 3,000 legal professionals across Australia, China, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore and the United States.
The legal services sector of the United Kingdom is a significant part of the national economy; it had a total output of £22.6 billion in 2013, up from 10.6 billion in 2001, and is equivalent to 1.6% of the country's gross domestic product for that year. The sector has a trade surplus is £3.1 billion in 2013 and directly employees 316,000 people, two-thirds of whom are located outside London. The UK is the world's most international market for legal services. It allows virtually unrestricted access for foreign firms, resulting in over 200 foreign law firms with offices in London and other cities in the UK. Around half of these are US firms, with the remainder mainly from Europe, Australia and Canada. The UK legal market has a strong global position due to the popularity of English law. Some 27% of the world's 320 legal jurisdictions use English Common law.
DWF is a global legal business headquartered in Manchester, England, with 31 offices across the world. In March 2019, DWF was listed on the London Stock Exchange. With a £366m valuation and offer size of £95m, DWF became the UK's largest listed law firm.
Capsticks is a law firm founded by Brian Capstick based in South London. Not to be confused with Capstick's Law, a TV series. It specialises in health work.
