Clyde & Co

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 President 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 from 1928, although it was in 1933 that having left his position as an assistant solicitor with a well known firm of City marine lawyers, he set up his own office in Lime Street in the heart of the insurance district of the City of London. 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 had joined the firm in 1966, assumed the post of Senior Partner in 1984, a position he held until 2013 when he assumed the role of Chairman. James Burns was elected Clyde & Co Senior Partner in 2013 and during his tenure Clyde & Co grew revenues by one third (£336m to £447m). More than 15 new offices were added on five continents including: Dusseldorf, Miami, Cape Town, Johannesburg, Melbourne and Edinburgh. James Burns was named Management Partner of the year by Legal Business in April 2016.[8][9] In October 2016 Simon Konsta was elected Senior Partner having previously been the firm's Head of Insurance since 2013 and a member of its Global Management Board since 2011.[10]

Reflecting the firm's growing international outlook, in 1981 Clyde & Co opened its first overseas office in Hong Kong. Many others followed in the Middle East, Asia, Europe and America.[2]

Clyde & Co has expanded rapidly in recent years.[11]

In 2011 the firm announced mergers with Canadian firm Nicholl Paskell-Mede and Barlow Lyde & Gilbert (BLG). The merger with BLG was reported as the largest merger between two UK law firms with an expected turnover of over £300 million.[12]

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.[13]

In September 2015, the firm merged with leading Scottish firm Simpson & Marwick.[14]

In recent years, the firm has opened new offices in Sydney, Perth, Melbourne, Beijing, Madrid, Atlanta, South Africa, Brisbane, Miami, Düsseldorf, Chicago, Washington, D.C., Mexico City, Los Angeles, Orange County and Hamburg, among others.[15][2][7][16][17]

• Clyde & Co official site - http://www.clydeco.com/
• Firm rankings in Chambers UK, Chambers Global, Chambers Asia, Chambers USA,Chambers Europe, Chambers Latin America and the Chambers Student Guide

• List of 100 largest UK law firms
• List of 100 largest European law firms