Ashurst LLP

Ashurst
No. of offices	29
No. of lawyers	1,600+
No. of employees	2,800+
Major practice areas	General practice
Key people	Karen Davies; (Chairman); Paul Jenkins; (Global Chief Executive Officer)
Revenue	£879 million
Date founded	1822 (London)
Company type	Limited liability partnership
Website	ashurst.com

Ashurst is a British multinational

list of largest UK law firms by revenue.^{[citation needed}

]

Its principal business focus is

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History

Ashurst Morris Crisp

The firm was founded in 1822,[4] at 6 Old Jewry in the City of London, under the name Ashurst Morris Crisp. The three initial founders were William H. Ashurst, John Morris, and Sir Frank Crisp.^[5]

Growth and Financial Crisis

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.^[

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]

In 2008, the firm voted in 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.

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Combination with Blake Dawson

Ashurst announced strong 2011 results,

better source needed] 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 across all offices.^[8]

Blake Dawson had its origins in

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.

As a result of the combination, Ashurst now has 1,600 lawyers and 2,820 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

resources, infrastructure and financial services sectors.^[1]