Morrison & Foerster

Morrison & Foerster (MoFo) posted global revenues of $963.3m in 2011 with the firm’s 15-partner London office contributing $33.5m. The UK figure represented a 4.2 per cent drop on the firm’s 2010 performance but allowed the firm to make the cut at number 30 in The Lawyer’s International Top 30 ranking of the largest global firms in London by turnover.  

In January 2013 the firm continued its Asian expansion strategy by opening an office in Singapore, its fifth in the region. The move means that the firm now boasts 16 offices globally, including five in Asia: Singapore, Hong Kong, Beijing, Shanghai and Tokyo.

Eric Piesner, managing partner for Asia and head of the firm's Asia real estate practice, will lead the office. ‘We already have a substantial base of business with a Singapore nexus, including clients with M&A, real estate, project finance, dispute resolution, TMT, private equity and tax needs. We see our presence in Singapore as an opportunity to further help clients in these and other areas,’ he said in a statement.

In the UK the firm landed a role advising a group of creditors on the administration of music retailer HMV. City litigation partner Jonathan Wheeler is leading a MoFo team acting for a roster of HMV’s supplier creditors, including Warner Music UK, Paramount Home Entertainment, Cinram, Arvato, Channel 4 and ITV, as well as three Sony businesses encompassing Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, Sony Music Entertainment UK and Sony DADC UK. Wheeler is joined on the US firm’s advisory team by London litigation associate.

The firm posted contentious revenues of $443.2m in 2011 placing it 21st in The Lawyer Global Litigation Top 50.