Linklaters has grown from a two-person law firm set up in Victorian-era London to become one of the world’s leading law firms.
Foundation
Linklaters can trace its history back to 1838 when the Scottish lawyer John Linklater moved to London to make his fortune. He went into partnership with Julius Dods to form the London firm of solicitors, Dods & Linklater. When John’s brother, James, joined the firm five years later, the firm became Dods & Linklaters. The newly established firm made the most of the commercial opportunities, earning a reputation as a law firm upon which their clients could rely to deliver a top-quality, commercially focused and excellent service. By the mid-19th Century, the firm was already working on deals in countries outside the UK, including India, China, Japan, Australia and Canada.
Meantime, another lawyer, Thomas Paine, from the same family as Tom Paine, the 18th Century radical political philosopher, was making waves in London, focusing his practice on the legal issues associated with the country’s rapid expansion of the railway network. Thomas was joined by two of his sons and other lawyers to create the firm of Paines, Blyth and Huxtable. The two firms merged in 1920 to become Linklaters & Paines, the name by which the firm was known for the remainder of the 20th century, until it changed its name to Linklaters.
International expansion
The international expansion of Linklaters began in the early 1970s with the opening of offices in New York, Brussels and Paris. Linklaters expanded further into Europe with the creation of Linklaters & Alliance in 1998. This brought together Linklaters with firms based in Germany, Belgium. Luxembourg and Sweden. Simultaneously, the firm pursued opportunities in the fast-growing Asian market, opening offices in Hong Kong, Japan and China.
The firm’s strategy focused on offering clients a combination of English, US and local law to deliver comprehensive commercial capability under one roof. Linklaters created Japan's first fully merged law firm practising Japanese, English and US law in 2005.
The firm’s growth in Europe continued with new offices in Portugal, the Netherlands and, following the UK’s exit from the European Union, Ireland, as well as new offices in Germany.
Teaming up with the best local law firms in key jurisdictions was a further affirmation of the firm’s strategy of advising clients on the most complex transactions, projects and cases wherever in the world they required the best legal advice. These included a collaboration in Indonesia, a joint operation in China and associations in South Africa and Australia.
In the 21st Century, Linklaters has opened offices in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Riyadh.
Commitment to excellence
Underpinning the growth of Linklaters and its continued success has been a total commitment to deliver the very best to its clients founded on the expertise of the firm’s people, excellent service and an unparalleled culture of collaboration and teamwork across offices and practices.
