Pinsent Masons

Pinsent Masons

Headquarters	Crown Place London, EC2 United Kingdom
No. of offices	26
No. of employees	3000 [1]
Revenue	£605.9 million (2022/23) [2]
Date founded	1769
Company type	Limited liability partnership
Website	www.pinsentmasons.com

Pinsent Masons LLP is an international law firm headquartered in London. The firm has been cited among the UK's leading legal brands ^[3] and ranks among the top hundred law firms in the world by turnover. ^[4]

Pinsent Masons LLP has over 430 partners, a total legal team of around 1,900 people and more than 3,000 employees. ^[5] More than 500 of the firm's staff are based in its international headquarters in the City of London. It has more PLC clients than any law firm except one. ^[6]

Pinsent Masons has consistently been recognised for innovation in legal services. It was named ‘The Most Innovative Law Firm in Europe’ by the Financial Times in 2023, ^[7] 2020 and 2015. Additionally, it was awarded for ‘Innovation in Sustainability’ at the Financial Times Asia-Pacific Innovative Lawyers Awards 2023. ^[8]

Pinsent Masons was named 'Law Firm of the Year' in 2021 and 2016 by respected industry magazine Legal Business, ^[9] 'Law Firm of the Year 2018' at The Lawyer Awards ^[10] and 'Law Firm of the Year' 2016 at Law.com's British Legal Awards. ^[11]

The firm has 26 offices across Africa, Asia Pacific, Europe and the Middle East. In 2017, Pinsent Masons entered into an association with Saudi-based law firm AlSabhan & Alajaji. ^[12]

History

Pinsent Masons has roots dating back to 1769. The modern day firm is the product of a series of mergers between firms including Pinsent & Co, Masons, Simpson Curtis, Biddle & Co, L'Estrange & Brett and McGrigors. Alumni of the legacy firms include former British Chancellor Alistair Darling. ^[13]

The firm's recent history has been dominated by a process of internationalisation. Over the past decade it has developed a presence in key major cities around the world: Beijing (2007), Singapore (2009), Paris (2012), Munich (2012), Brussels (2015), Sydney (2015), Melbourne (2015), Düsseldorf (2016), Johannesburg (2016), Madrid (2017), Dublin (2017), Perth (2017) and Frankfurt (2019). ^[14]

The firm's board is led by Senior Partner Andrew Masraf ^[15] and Managing Partner Laura Cameron. In 2016 the firm announced the appointment of former Secretary of State for International Development Douglas Alexander as a strategic adviser, ^[16] and appointed its first external board member in the form of former banker Pauline Egan. ^[17]

Strategy

The firm professes to specialise in only five global sectors: financial services, technology, science & industry, energy, real estate and infrastructure. ^[18]

Innovation

Pinsent Masons has won awards for innovation. ^[19] In 2013 it was in the vanguard of firms to launch a contract lawyer service, called Vario. ^[20] It also secured mandates to act as 'sole adviser' to corporates including Balfour Beatty ^[21] and E.ON. ^[22] In 2015 the firm acquired the majority stake in Cerico, an online compliance business. ^[23]

Diversity

Pinsent Masons is the highest ranked professional services firm in the Stonewall Workplace Equality Index. ^[24] It is also ranked among The Times Top 50 Workplaces for Women 2016. ^[25] David Isaac, a partner of the firm, was appointed as Chair of the UK Equality and Human Rights Commission in 2016. ^[26]

References

1. "Pinsent Masons | People".
2. "Pinsent Masons announces FY22/23 results".
3. "Global 100 2024: Main table". Legal Business. 4 November 2024. Retrieved 29 January 2025.
4. Business, Legal. "Global 100 2017 – Main Table" . legalbusiness.co.uk. Retrieved 11 July 2016.{{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)
5. "People". Pinsent Masons. 19 January 2023. Retrieved 30 December 2023.
6. "Law firms top rankings – Adviser Rankings Limited". adviser-rankings.com. Retrieved 11 July 2016.
7. "Europe Innovative Lawyers Awards 2023: the winners". Financial Times. 22 September 2023. Retrieved 29 January 2025.
8. "Asia-Pacific Innovative Lawyers Awards 2023: the winners". Financial Times. 5 May 2023. Retrieved 29 January 2025.
9. Business, Legal. "2016 Winners | www.legalbusiness.co.uk". www.legalbusiness.co.uk. Retrieved 11 July 2016.{{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)
10. "The Lawyer Awards: Pinsents triumphs as firm of the year 2018". The Lawyer | Legal insight, benchmarking data and jobs. 27 June 2018. Retrieved 15 February 2023.
11. "British Legal Awards Law Firm of the Year: Pinsent Masons". LegalWeek.com. Retrieved 9 February 2017.
12. "Global Reach". www.pinsentmasons.com. Retrieved 11 July 2016.
13. "Nobody's Darling". www.scotsman.com. Retrieved 11 July 2016.
14. "Pinsent Masons to open first African office". African Law & Business. 2 August 2016.
15. Masraf, Andrew. "Andrew Masraf". Pinsent Masons. Retrieved 15 February 2023.
16. "Former Labour MP Douglas Alexander joins Pinsent Masons as 'strategic advisor'". Daily Record . 1 March 2016.
17. Farman, Madeleine (18 April 2016). "Blog: Revolving doors: Pinsent Masons makes board appointments as BLP and Mayer Brown make City hires". legalbusiness.co.uk.
18. "Richard Foley: leadership changes won't shift sector focus at Pinsent Masons". LegalWeek.com. Retrieved 11 July 2016.
19. "Solutions". Pinsent Masons. Retrieved 24 February 2021.
20. "Pinsent Masons to launch freelance lawyer service | Managing Partner". Archived from the original on 7 July 2013.
21. "Balfour Beatty appoints Pinsent Masons as sole advisor on Retained Work".
22. Beioley, Kate (3 October 2013). "Pinsent Masons beats 40 firms to win sole legal provider contract for Eon". The Lawyer .
23. Manning, Jonathon (18 September 2015). "Pinsent Masons' Richard Masters: Our tech product Cerico is taking on the world". The Lawyer .
24. "Pinsent Masons recognised among top five inclusive employers in Stonewall Index". www.pinsentmasons.com. Retrieved 11 July 2016.
25. "The Times Top 50 Employers for Women 2016" . Retrieved 11 July 2016.
26. Asthana, Anushka (1 April 2016). "Nicky Morgan under fire for choosing City lawyer to head equality body". The Guardian. Retrieved 11 July 2016.