Herbert Smith Freehills (HSF) has emerged as the most-popular adviser to FTSE 100 companies  on High Court and Court of Appeal (CoA) cases, data gathered for The Lawyer Market Intelligence tool has shown.

The firm was instructed on 11 cases brought by FTSE 100 companies with reported judgments between January 2012 and July last year, substantially more than any other firm.

Last year The Lawyer revealed that HSF advises 39 FTSE 100 companies in total across all practice areas, more than any other firm.

Hogan Lovells picked up instructions on seven cases, while Addleshaw Goddard, Berwin Leighton Paisner, Clyde & Co, DLA Piper and Norton Rose Fulbright advised on five cases each.

Magic circle firms trailed this group; Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Linklaters were both instructed on four FTSE 100 cases in the time period, with Clifford Chance working on three. Allen & Overy made no appearances for FTSE 100 companies in that time period.

A total of 53 firms were instructed by the FTSE 100 between 2012 and July last year, along with 112 QCs and 116 juniors from around 60 sets.

Meanwhile telecoms giant BT Group was the most litigious FTSE 100 company, going to court 23 times between January 2012 and July 2015.

BT Group was involved in 23 cases, including five in the CoA. Rival media company Sky took 16 cases to court, including four in the CoA.

Less than half of the FTSE100 spent time in court in England and Wales in that period – just 46 out of a total 100.

For the full analysis, see this week’s focus on litigation data gathered from The Lawyer Market Intelligence.