Conyers Dill & Pearman

Conyers is a leading international law firm with a broad client base including FTSE 100 and Fortune 500 companies, international finance houses and asset managers. The firm advises on Bermuda, British Virgin Islands and Cayman Islands laws, from offices in those jurisdictions and in the key financial centres of Hong Kong, London and Singapore. Conyers also provide a wide range of corporate, trust, compliance, governance and accounting and management services.

Conyers
HeadquartersBermuda
No. of offices6
No. of lawyers130
Major practice areasBanking & Finance, Corporate & Commercial, Dispute Resolution, Employment Law, Investment Funds, Private Client & Trusts, Property, Regulatory, Restructuring & Insolvency
Date founded1928
Company typeLaw Firm
Websitehttps://www.conyers.com/

History

Founded in Bermuda in 1928 (although it can trace its roots back to 1903), the firm has subsequently opened legal practices in a number of other offshore financial centres, including the British Virgin Islands (1996) and the Cayman Islands (2004). It also has offices in key financial centres, including London (1998), Hong Kong (1985) and Singapore (2001). It is a member of the Offshore Magic Circle. Perhaps uniquely amongst multi-jurisdictional offshore firms, Conyers' expansion has been entirely by way of organic growth, rather than by acquisition of smaller firms in jurisdictions it wishes to operate in. The firm can legitimately claim to be the first offshore firm to operate in multiple jurisdictions; the original Bermudian firm opening a British Virgin Islands office in 1996.

The firm's founder, Reginald Conyers, played an important role in the development of the nascent financial services industry in Bermuda in the 1920s and 1930s. Following on from the Bermuda Railway Company Act 1924, Conyers was faced with the legal problem of conveying huge numbers of land parcels by the company. This led to two things. Firstly, he took on two partners in his practice, Bayard Dill and James Pearman (and thus the firm was officially born). Secondly, in 1935 the firm was instrumental in the enactment of the first "exempt company" legislation in Bermuda, which leads some to claim that Bermuda was the world's first offshore financial centre.[1] Later, in 1957 another partner of the firm, David Graham, laid the basis for the development of Bermuda as a domicile for ship registrations in a letter to The Times.[2] In 2019, the firm became the subject of the Mauritius Leaks and related investigations carried forth by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists and its partners.[3]

Practice areas

Conyers offers Legal and Client services in areas including Corporate, Banking & Finance, Insurance & Reinsurance, Investment Funds, Private Client & Trust, Litigation & Restructuring and Real Estate & Property Development.

Awards and accolades

Conyers is a member of Lex Mundi, a large association of independent law firms.

Conyers was recognised as Band 1 by Chambers & Partners in 2018.[4]

Conyers was recognised as a Top Tier Firm by IFLR1000 for 2018.[5]

Conyers was recognised as a Top Tier Firm by Legal 500 Caribbean 2018.[6]

Footnotes
  1. In practice the Bermudian claim does not stand up to scrutiny; Liechtenstein enacted trust laws to attract tax exempt foreign capital in 1926.
  2. The firm's role in the development of offshore finance is noted in Tolley's International Initiatives Affecting Financial Havens (2001), ISBN 0-406-94264-1
  3. Kent, Jonathan (July 24, 2019). "'Stolen' Conyers papers published". The Royal Gazette. Retrieved 2019-08-07.
  4. https://www.chambersandpartners.com/
  5. https://www.iflr1000.com//
  6. http://www.legal500.com/
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.