User:Shsing/Stephenson harwood

Stephenson Harwood is an international law firm.

The firm has offices in five countries across Europe and Asia: UK, France, Greece, Singapore and in China - Guangzhou, Hong Kong and Shanghai.

Revenue for 2008/09 was £85 million. Profit per equity partner – a key measure of profitability used by law firms - was £610,000.

History
When lawyer William Harwood returned to London after practising in China, he and Henry Stephenson created the firm of Harwood & Stephenson in 1875. Harwood brought with him a regional connection, the Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation - and, HSBC remains a client of the firm to this day.

In 1828, City law firm Tatham & Lousada. Tathams merged with Stephenson Harwood - as the firm was by then known - in 1920 to form Stephenson Harwood & Tatham, shortening its name back to Stephenson Harwood in 1977. The firm's international expansion began in 1979 with the opening of its Hong Kong office. It gathered pace from the early 1990s onwards, as new offices were created in Guangzhou (1994), Piraeus (1996), Singapore (1996) and Paris (2001). In 2002, the firm merged with Sinclair Roche & Temperley, strengthening the corporate, finance, litigation and real estate capabilities, and extending the firm's presence to Shanghai (founded in 1993).

Stephenson Harwood is now an international law firm with some 100 partners and 500 staff worldwide. With over twenty percent of people operating out of China, Hong Kong, and Singapore.

Practice Areas
Stephenson Harwood offers a full range of commercial legal services - combined with specialist expertise in the energy, financial services, projects and infrastructure, real estate and transportation (aviation, rail and shipping). Services include:


 * Corporate and commercial
 * Employment and pensions
 * Environment
 * Finance
 * Funds
 * Insolvency and restructuring
 * Insurance and reinsurance
 * Intellectual property
 * Litigation and arbitration
 * Private Capital
 * Projects, including PFI/PPP
 * Real estate
 * Regulation
 * Tax

Offices

 * Guangzhou
 * Hong Kong
 * London
 * Paris
 * Piraeus
 * Shanghai
 * Singapore

Awards

 * Named 'Law Firm of the Year' at The British Legal Awards on Thursday 3 December 2009.