Simmons & Simmons

Simmons & Simmons is an international legal practice with over 1,500 people and 22 offices located in major business and financial centres throughout Europe, the Middle East and Asia. Its largest office is located in CityPoint, off Moorgate in London, where almost half its legal staff are based.

Simmons & Simmons
LLP
IndustryLaw
FoundedLondon (1896)
HeadquartersLondon, with 20 other offices worldwide
ProductsLegal advice
Number of employees
over 1,500[1]
Websitesimmons-simmons.com

The firm undertakes significant cross-border and highly complex matters and transactions alongside work in local markets. It delivers services from across its corporate, dispute resolution, employment and financial markets departments, and it has a particular focus on work in financial institutions, asset management & investment funds, and in the life sciences and technology, media & telecommunications (TMT) sectors. It also focuses on the energy & infrastructure market, in particular through its international projects and construction teams.[2]

In the run up to the UK decision to leave the European Union, the firm launched an online resource that considers the legal implications of this decision and key issues for businesses.[3]

The current senior partner is Colin Passmore, and the managing partner is Jeremy Hoyland. The firm was the highest ranked law firm on the Stonewall Workplace Equality Index for six years before being awarded Star Performer status in December 2014 [4] and Global Star Performer status in January 2016.[5] The firm has also featured in The Times' Top 50 Employers for Women, a list of UK organisations leading the way in gender equality in the workplace. The firm and its lawyers receive regular recognition in independent legal directories and awards for the practices and sectors on which it focuses.[6]

The firm has also received regular recognition in the Financial Times Innovative Lawyers Report.[7] Charlotte Stalin, a financial services partner, was named “Legal Innovator of the Year” at the FT Innovative Lawyers Awards 2016.[8]

Simmons & Simmons has spent over 25 years building a collection of art from modern British and international artists. It has a policy of supporting young artists at the beginning of their careers by acquiring significant work. The offices in London are home to several works by Damien Hirst and Tracey Emin.[9]

Private Eye and The Guardian revealed that Edward Troup, executive chair of Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs since April 2016, was a former partner with Simmons & Simmons, whose clients included the Blairmore Holdings, Inc., the Panama-registered fund created by Ian Cameron, David Cameron's father.[10][11] Papers obtained by the Süddeutsche Zeitung and the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists reveal Simmons & Simmons' work with offshore companies and major overseas property owners, including an investment company run on behalf of Sheikh Hamad bin Abdullah Al Thani (then the foreign minister for Qatar), while Troup was its senior tax partner.[12] The papers also reveal that Simmons & Simmons worked until 2003 as director and agent for a company in the Virgin Islands called Chale Ltd, which owned West End properties in Piccadilly and Mayfair. The company also allegedly advised Blairmore on moving its location away from Panama.[12]

References
  1. Simmons & Simmons our story
  2. Chambers Student Guide
  3. "Brexit microsite"
  4. Stonewall Star Performers
  5. Firm Takes Pride as a Stonewall Top Global Employer, Simmons & Simmons. 19 January 2016.
  6. About us
  7. Innovative Lawyers Report, Financial Times
  8. "FT Innovative Lawyers 2016"
  9. Art Collection
  10. "New Troup movements at HMRC". Private Eye (1413). Archived from the original on March 21, 2016. Retrieved April 11, 2016.
  11. "HMRC chief was partner at law firm that acted for Cameron offshore fund". The Guardian. April 11, 2016. Retrieved April 11, 2016.
  12. "Troup Manoeuvres". Private Eye (1416). 15 April 2016. p. 8.
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