12 new fetter lane london no . of offices 28 no . of attorneys 1 100 no . of employees 1 000 key people david kerr michael frie date founded 1846 1 founder william frederick wratislaw bird and james moore company type llp website www.twobirds.com this article contains embedded lists that may be poorly defined unverified or indiscriminate . please help to clean it up to meet wikipedia s quality standards . where appropriate incorporate items into the main body of the article . march 2013 bird & bird 2 is an international law firm with over 1 100 lawyers and legal practitioners in 28 offices worldwide . well known for its intellectual property work 3 in recent years the firm has undertaken expansion in many areas of commercial law across selected industry sectors . these sectors include automotive aviation & aerospace banking & financial services communications energy & utilities food & drink information technology life sciences media and sport . bird & bird has offices in aarhus abu dhabi beijing bratislava brussels budapest copenhagen dubai d sseldorf frankfurt the hague helsinki hong kong hamburg london luxembourg lyon madrid milan munich paris prague rome shanghai singapore stockholm sydney warsaw and close ties with firms in other key centres in europe asia and the united states . history edit this article contains embedded lists that may be better presented using prose . you can help by converting the list or lists to prose if appropriate . editing help is available . march 2013 learn how and when to remove this template message ten years ago bird & bird had an office in london with small offices in brussels and hong kong . after a period of rapid international expansion today it has 28 offices across 19 countries . of the firm s 28 offices 21 were launched since 2000 and well over half of the firm s partners are based outside the uk . 1846 william frederick wratislaw bird founds a law firm in the honourable society of gray s inn in partnership with james moore . the firm is called bird & moore . 4 1853 bird & moore takes up residence at 5 gray s inn square london where the firm remains until 1941 . 1884 the firm s founder w. f. wratislaw bird dies at the age of 74 . his son william barrott montford bird carries on the practice and builds a strong clientele in the coal mining and iron making sector . w.b. montford bird later forms one of the first electric light bulb companies whose successor now a household name is still a client of the firm . 1898 now known as bird moore & strode the firm instructs d.m. kerly in its first reported trade mark case an application by the eastman photographic materials company ltd to register solio in respect of photographic paper . 1905 the firm is renamed bird & bird under the leadership of w.b.m. bird and his cousin ernest edward bird . 1909 bird & bird conducts its first reported patent case . the case of z electric lamp manufacturing company ltd v marples leach & co ltd concerned filaments for incandescent electric bulbs . 1941 bird & bird is forced to move premises after the building at 5 gray s inn square is destroyed in an air raid . 1943 ernest e. bird serves as president of the law society and is reputed to have chaired their shortest ever agm due to an air raid warning . he was knighted the following year . 1950 sir william bird knighted in 1920 dies leaving the firm birdless for the first time since its foundation . 1954 the firm returns to gray s inn square moving into newly rebuilt chambers at no 2 . 1958 the merger with richard furber & son windsor & brown ushers in a new age with the arrival of alan woods who eventually becomes senior partner . 1967 bird & bird gains two new partners on its merger with ranken ford & chester a firm with one of the oldest histories in london its origins dating back to the 18th century . 1973 alan woods co founds the society for computers and law and becomes its first paying member . 1984 telecoms liberalisation gets under way in the uk . bird & bird gains its first telecoms client . 1989 bird & bird conducts the first judicial review of oftel . 1990 every bird & bird lawyer has a pc on his her desk . 1991 the firm opens its ec office in brussels belgium 1995 bird & bird opens its doors to a global audience through the launch of www.twobirds.com the first law firm with an on line presence . the firm also opens for business in hong kong . 2000 bird & bird begins an ambitious 5 year development programme by opening for business in paris france and stockholm sweden . 2001 bird & bird opens in the hague netherlands . 2002 bird & bird opens for business in d sseldorf germany . 2003 new offices in italy milan and a second office in germany munich . 2004 a landmark in bird & bird s growth as the number of partners exceeds 100 for the first time . the practice in asia expands with the opening of an office in beijing china . 2005 new offices spain madrid a second office in italy rome and a third office in germany frankfurt . 2006 bird & bird opens a second office in france lyon . 2008 bird & bird wins international law firm of the year at the lawyer awards 2008 . the firm has its most expansive year to date with four new offices in central europe czech republic hungary poland and slovakia and a second office in china shanghai . the firm also opens for business in helsinki finland and expands its london operation via a merger with lane & partners . on 29 november bird & bird converted to limited liability partnership status llp . 2009 bird & bird enters into a global association with alban tay mahtani & de silva llp atmd one of singapore s leading law firms . the singapore office is known as bird & bird atmd llp and is located at sgx centre one . 2011 bird & bird opens a fourth office in germany hamburg . 2011 bird & bird opens office in abu dhabi its first office in the middle east . 2013 bird & bird merges with bvhd in denmark copenhagen and skanderborg to become the first major international law firm with complete coverage of the nordic region . 2013 bird & bird opens in dubai its second office in the united arab emirates . 2014 bird & bird enters into a cooperation agreement with hwang mok park becoming the first major international law firm to reach such an agreement with one of korea s top 10 practices . references edit bird & bird history bird & bird website chambers student guide bird & bird history external links edit official website 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 linklaters macfarlanes maclay murray & spens mishcon de reya mills & reeve nabarro norton rose fulbright olswang osborne clarke pinsent masons qualitysolicitors reynolds porter chamberlain shakespeare martineau shepherd and wedderburn simmons & simmons slaughter and may squire patton boggs2 stephenson harwood taylor wessing tlt travers smith trowers & hamlins turcan connell watson farley & williams withers defunct addleshaw booth barlow lyde & gilbert cobbetts denton wilde sapte dickinson dees dundas & wilson halliwells hammonds herbert smith lawrence graham mcgrigors salans1 semple fraser sj berwin snr denton2 theodore goddard wragge & co wragge lawrence graham barristers chambers 18 red lion court 39 essex street 3pb 4 king s bench walk 5 pump court 5 stone buildings blackstone brick court cornerstone doughty street essex court fountain court matrix no5 one essex court 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