united kingdom no . of offices 27 no . of lawyers 1 700 no . of employees 3 500 major practice areas general practice key people ben tidswell chairman mary padbury vice chairman paul jenkins managing partner brian dunlop chief financial officer simmon beddow managing partner london office revenue 550 million 1 date founded 1822 london company type limited liability partnership website www.ashurst.com ashurst llp is a multinational law firm headquartered in london united kingdom and a member of the silver circle of leading uk law firms . ashurst is the uk s 11th largest law firm by revenue according to the latest legal 100 table by legal business . 2 it has 28 offices in 16 countries across asia australia europe the middle east and north america and employs around 1 700 legal advisers . 3 its principal business focus is mergers and acquisitions corporate and structured finance . the firm also has practices in other areas including investment funds antitrust energy transport and infrastructure intellectual property it dispute resolution financial services tax real estate regulatory telecommunication and employment . 4 contents 1 history 1.1 ashurst morris crisp 1.2 growth and financial crisis 1.3 combination with blake dawson 2 practice areas 3 references 4 external links history edit ashurst morris crisp edit the firm was founded in 1822 5 at 6 old jewry in the city of london . the first 100 years of ashurst morris crisp as it was then known were dominated by three men progressive political activist william h. ashurst liquidation mastermind john morris and corporate specialist sir frank crisp . 6 ashurst morris crisp was in the upper echelons of the city s corporate advisers . 7 growth and financial crisis edit after rebranding as ashurst llp in 2003 the firm was faced with profits lagging its peer group and the risk of a contracting work force . one abortive initiative in 2004 that allowed the management to pay high performers additional bonuses was seen as symbolic of the defensiveness of the time . however the team of veteran senior partner geoffrey green and managing partner simon bromwich were to begin having more success in managing the firm . partly this involved a more actively managed partnership and a handful of discreetly handled exits . the firm was also able to make more progress in building up its core m & a practice in particular improving its investment banking links and dealing with quality problems in its foreign network . the firm was also aided by a continued strong performance from its finance practice . with partner profits rocketing in 2007 to take top earners past the 1m mark placing the firm comfortably in the uk top 10 in profitability . 7 in 2008 the firm voted in highly rated corporate partner charlie geffen to succeed green as senior partner after an election against veteran litigator ed sparrow . the credit turmoil that gripped financial markets in the summer of 2007 which became a full blown banking crisis and recession the following year had a substantial impact on ashurst s core practice lines . profits fell and revenue suffered a dip . but the firm quickly steered itself out of trouble and figures began to rise again . 7 combination with blake dawson edit see also ashurst australia ashurst announced strong 2011 results 8 with profit per partner rising 5 % to 723 000 and total revenue growing 3.5 % to 303 million . as of the summer of 2011 ashurst had over 900 lawyers including over 200 partners in 12 countries . on 1 march 2012 ashurst merged its asian business with that of australian law firm blake dawson a member of the big six blake dawson being renamed as ashurst australia across all offices . 9 blake dawson had its origins in melbourne in 1841 when james hunter ross emigrated from scotland and set up practice in a tent on the corner of bourke and william streets in melbourne . in 1874 he adopted the name of blake & riggall which remained unchanged for 114 years . in 1881 george charles king waldron commenced practice in pitt street in sydney under the name of dawson waldron . from the early years these two firms played a significant part in the legal system in victoria and new south wales with a substantial commercial litigation and property practice . the firm s client base included large corporations banks mining and pastoral companies . blake dawson waldron was formed in 1988 through a merger of blake & riggall melbourne brisbane dawson waldron sydney canberra and singapore collison hunt & richardson perth and mccubbery train love and thomas port moresby . this merger brought together lawyers from all of the major commercial centres in australia as well as important centres in the asia and pacific regions . three further asian offices were established in jakarta in 1988 shanghai in 1995 and singapore in 2009 . in 2007 the firm underwent re branding and as part of this project shortened its name to blake dawson . the name change drew some attention from the local press and the australian financial review a respected business newspaper published a story about a homosexual pornographic actor who shared the same name . blake dawson the actor had appeared in the diary in 1982 and spring semester in 1985 . the law firm continued to proceed with the name change after the story was published . in 2009 it was announced that the partnership of blake dawson was considering cutting up to 100 staff in a bid to reduce costs and preserve profit . blake dawson was the first top tier law firm in australia to announce anticipated redundancies during the 2009 economic downturn . 10 as a result of the combination ashurst now has 1 700 lawyers and 3 500 staff working across 24 offices with worldwide revenue exceeding 550 million . ashurst has also gained new offices in adelaide brisbane canberra jakarta melbourne perth port moresby shanghai and sydney . this significantly increases ashurst s resources and its stronghold in the energy & resources infrastructure and financial services sectors . 1 the merger made ashurst 25th in the list of 100 largest law firms in the world by revenue and 7th in the list of largest uk law firms by revenue overtaking magic circle firm slaughter & may . practice areas edit capital markets commercial contracts commodities competition construction corporate dispute resolution eti energy transport and infrastructure employment finance intellectual property investment funds planning private equity project finance real estate restructuring insolvency and special situations tax references edit a b ashurst press release http www.ashurst.com about ashurst.aspx id content 66 ashurst and blake dawson announce merger https www.ashurst.com about ashurst.aspx id content 66 ashurst website ashurst s founders chambers student history of ashurst llp a b c legalweek ashurst ashurst 2011 results blake dawson 2011 . ashurst and blake dawson announce asia business combination and future merger plans . retrieved 1 march 2012 . job watch chris nicholson 2009 02 27 . retrenched turn the page for a new job the australian . theaustralian.news.com.au . retrieved 2011 09 13 . external links edit ashurst website profiles in the chambers student guide and on rollonfriday and the cambridge university law society website . ashurst blake dawson merger v t e legal services in the united kingdom law of the united kingdom economy of the united kingdom law firms largest firms in the uk europe worldwide current addleshaw goddard allen & overy anderson strathern ashurst asons blm berwin leighton paisner bird & bird blake morgan bristows brodies browne jacobson burges salmon burness paull clifford chance clyde & co cms cameron mckenna co operative dac beachcroft dentons1 dickson minto dla piper2 dwf eversheds farrer & co fieldfisher freshfields bruckhaus deringer gowling wlg3 herbert smith freehills hill dickinson hogan lovells2 holman fenwick willan ince & co irwin mitchell king & wood mallesons lewis silkin 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