United Kingdom

Mergers, Acquisitions & Private Equity

In 2021, Orrick's London team advised on more than 60 tech M&A deals valued at over $11 billion. Our top-ranked team is well-versed in coordinating complex cross-border transactions for buyers, sellers and funds in relation to share and asset leveraged buyouts, acquisitions and disposals, joint ventures, strategic alliances, licensing agreements, group reorganisations, private equity exits and portfolio company representations.

Cyber, Privacy & Data Innovation

One of the very few firms with a dedicated team of litigators in Europe focused exclusively on defending businesses and their executives against global privacy and cyber risk, we help companies manage their global compliance requirements, as well as their cyber and privacy incident response, litigation and regulatory enforcement exposure in the UK and EU. Collaborating with our premier US Chambers Band 1-ranked team which has pioneered this field for the past decade, we have experience handling high-profile regulatory investigations and disputes involving international regulators and agencies, including the UK FCA, SFO and ICO, and the U.S. DOJ, FBI, FTC and SEC. We act on behalf of number clients who are subject to ICO investigations including FTSE listed data insights companies, financial services institutions and technology companies on wide-ranging data protection issues.

Litigation, Disputes & International Arbitration

A truly international practice, long-recognised by the Global Arbitration Review as one of the top 30 firms in the world, our leading team protects the interests of businesses, high net worth individuals, multinationals and nation states.

We regularly handle large domestic disputes in the English Courts, in addition to high-value complex, multijurisdictional litigation, investment treaty and commercial arbitrations before all major arbitral institutions. We assist with internal investigations and advise on regulatory compliance, contractual and corporate partnership disputes, executive liability for corporate negligence and trademark infringements.

Capital Markets

Our team advises UK and global public and late stage private companies, entrepreneurs and underwriters on accessing international capital markets. Offering a combination of English and US law we guide our clients through debt and equity issues, including IPOs and secondary fundraisings on the Main Market and AIM, as well as private placements and domiciliation for the purposes of fundraising.

Employee Share Schemes

Our team advises on the full range of employee incentive matters, including structuring and implementing the equity incentive arrangements of private and public companies and multinational groups. We have extensive experience supporting venture-backed companies and their investors throughout their lifecycle and regularly advise on strategic M&A transactions and IPO mandates.

IP, Licensing and Technology Transactions (IPLTT)

In collaboration with our Data practice, our multidisciplinary IPLTT team advises on complex commercial and technology transactions, technology services agreements and intellectual property matters, including website terms and conditions, data privacy, renegotiations, intellectual property Iicensing and strategic alliances.

Antitrust and Competition

Our experienced team offers innovative solutions on complex, cross-border matters involving merger control and clearance aspects of transactions, private damages actions, behavioural cases and investigations. We are a leading authority on private damages actions and advised on the first private antitrust damages action to reach trial in the UK. In collaboration with our Brussels office, we regularly appear before the European Commission and the Competition and Markets Authority.

Employment

Our team serves as strategic counsel to many of the world's most prestigious and innovative employers offering strategic and pragmatic solutions for contentious and transactional employment and human resource matters. Clients come to us as counsel of choice for sensitive, high-exposure matters, including redundancies, remuneration and equal pay decisions, employee misconduct, discrimination, harassment and whistleblowing.

Tax

Our team advises clients on all aspects of corporate tax, with a focus on domestic and international corporate and finance transactions, mergers and acquisitions, restructurings and reorganisations, in addition to advice relating to tax disputes, funds and investment structures.

Business and Human Rights

In today’s interconnected world, a company’s approach to human rights can have a dramatic effect on its business activities. The rise of AI, big data, gig workers, facial recognition technology and 5G has given rise to a new set of human rights issues. Our team provides expert advice on the rapidly-expanding regulatory landscape and develops legal policy and business strategies to remedy human rights harms, and represent clients in litigation and arbitration relating to human rights issues.

Orrick Cares

London is a leading example of our firm-wide commitment to making a social impact. Our European pro bono and sustainability director is based in London and has helped 100% of our London team provide 5,350 hours in pro bono service in the past year. The American Lawyer ranked Orrick #4 for Pro Bono internationally in 2021 and Legal Week recognised Orrick as one of the top 5 pro bono firms in the UK in 2019. In 2022, our London office has launched several new pro bono partnerships and programmes. Orrick is proud to partner with Refugee Legal Support and Safe Passage International, alongside 13 other committed law firms, to launch a new large-scale initiative offering pro bono legal representation to Afghan refugees, as they try to find safe routes to sanctuary and reunite with family members in the UK following the Taliban takeover. Learn more here.

In 2022, we are proud to announce a partnership with the East London Business Alliance (ELBA) on community responsibility initiatives, supporting local schools and universities in educating young people on their basic legal rights and developing their employability skills. ELBA has over 30 years of experience in supporting partnerships between businesses and local communities, which includes some of the most underprivileged areas in London. Their mission is to create opportunities that bring about positive change by channelling the resources and influence of the private sector to address key areas of need.

Diversity, Inclusion & Wellness

Inclusiveness is a core value that shapes the way we run our firm. It’s part of our daily conversation about investing in talent, staffing our teams and measuring our success. We are a founding member of the Reignite Academy, which provides opportunities for women returning to the profession after a career break to raise their families. This investment in women's leadership led to the firm receiving the Diversity and Inclusion Award at the 2019 Financial Times European Innovation Awards.

As our firm works to remove the stigma around talking about mental health, we are leading The Conversation in London which includes a 12-month programme involving psychologist-led educational seminars, team discussions and monthly support groups for our team members.

Innovation

As one of the world’s most innovative and forward-thinking law firms, Orrick in London is constantly looking at ways to improve the delivery of legal services and deliver greater value to clients. For the sixth year in a row, we have been recognised by the Financial Times as a Top 3 Law Firm for Innovation.

We partner with like-minded organisations that promote innovation within our core sectors. We host regular initiatives with London Enterprise Tech which fosters innovation in the London enterprise technology ecosystem through championing early stage technology companies, supporting entrepreneurs, educating companies on how to work with enterprises, and creating an environment where entrepreneurs, investors and businesses can work together.