Mayer Brown

Chicago-headquartered Mayer Brown has a strong global reach and today has five offices in Europe, seven offices in the US and eight Mayer Brown JSM offices across Asia.

As a further boost to its international offering, the firm also has a cooperation agreement with Tauil & Chequer Advogados in Brazil and has an alliance with Ramón y Cajal Abogados in Spain.

In 2011 Mayer Brown had around 1,523 lawyers worldwide, 585 of whom were partners.

The London office is a key hub for the firm and posted a 7.3 per cent increase in revenue in 2011, with turnover increasing from £134.5m to £156.8m. In 2011, the office had 245 lawyers and 94 partners and was ranked in sixth place in the Top 30 international firms in London ranking ofThe Lawyer UK 200 2012.

The firm's core practice areas include antitrust and competition, banking and finance, corporate and securities, employment and benefits, financial services, regulatory and enforcement, international trade, intellectual property, litigation and dispute resolution, real estate, restructuring, bankruptcy and insolvency, tax and wealth management.

Mayer Brown has a strong global litigation offering and has 546 litigation lawyers worldwide, according to The Lawyer Litigation Top 50 2012. The firm posted a global litigation turnover of $453.6m in 2011, which saw the firm ranked in 19th place.

Asia Pacific

No. of lawyers: 234
Offices: 8

There will be some late arrivals among international law firms in Asia Pacific, but Mayer Brown certainly isn't one of them. The firm is celebrating its 150th anniversary in the region, with its eight offices being some of the most established in the area as a whole.

Full service is the watch-phrase for the firm in Asia. “We provide a one-stop shop for a number of clients,” says the firm's Asia chairwoman Elaine Lo. She maintains that while the firm deals with big corporate and finance projects, it can also field highly rated intellectual property, litigation and insolvency practices in the region, as well as competing effectively for regional competition law, employment work and insurance matters.

In southeast Asia, the firm specialises in projects (energy, mining and resources and infrastructure work) for power and gas companies, as well as for airlines and infrastructure businesses such as airport operators.

Along with a long history in the region comes a degree of caution. Lo says the firm will adamantly stand by its policy of following client demand in the region, not trying to set it. That means the practice won't be rushing to launch offices in emerging regional markets.