Osborne Clarke was founded in
Bristol, England, in 1748 by Jeremiah Osborne. In 1987 Osborne Clarke opened its first
London office. Over the next decade the firm opened offices in
Reading,
Cologne,
Munich and
Silicon Valley. The
law firm played a significant part in the development of the railways in the UK when it was appointed to represent the
Great Western Railway Company, working closely with
Isambard Kingdom Brunel on the establishment of the
Great Western Main Line route from
London Paddington to
Bristol and the West Country. The nature of the relationship between Osborne Clarke and Brunel is best highlighted by one notable occasion when Jeremiah Osborne the Third (grandson to the founder) is said to have personally rowed Brunel down the
River Avon to survey the bank for the route of the Great Western Railway. The partnership's recent history has been characterised by two strands of development. Firstly, they have undertaken significant international expansion, particularly into the United States and Germany where they are now the 41st largest law firm. On 9 July 2012 the firm announced that two European firms, SLA Studio Legale Associato in Italy and Spanish firm Osborne Clarke Spain, had become part of Osborne Clarke. Secondly the firm has seen considerable expansion in the media and technology sectors, in which they are considered a tier 1 firm. Notable clients in this sector include
Yahoo!,
Facebook,
Dell,
PwC,
Google,
Pokémon Company and
Tripadvisor. In 2015 Osborne Clarke was named ''
The Lawyer's'' firm of the year. In 2019 the firm was awarded the
Best Corporate Culture Award at the
Managing Partners Forum (MAP) Awards.
Key dates • 1748 – Jeremiah Osborne starts practising law in Bristol. • 1833 – Firm works closely with
Isambard Kingdom Brunel on the building of the
Great Western Railway. The firm remains the company's solicitor for many years. • 1969 – The modern firm is created by the merger of the Osborne and Clarke law firms. • 1987 – Firm opens its
London office – the first regional law firm to do so. • 1998 – Opens
Thames Valley office in
Reading. • 2000 – Opens
Silicon Valley office in
Palo Alto, California. • 2001 – Opens office in
Cologne, Germany. • 2012 – Merges with Italian and Spanish firms, gaining offices in
Milan,
Rome,
Padua,
Brescia,
Madrid and
Barcelona. • 2013 – Opens in
Brussels,
Paris and
New York. • 2014 – Opens in
San Francisco,
Amsterdam,
Hong Kong. and
Mumbai. • 2016 – Opens in
Singapore. • 2017 – Opens in
Mainland China,
Sweden and
Bangalore. • 2019 – Relationship firm BTG Legal opens office in
Delhi. BTG Legal subsequently merged with Advaya Legal to form BTG Advaya in 2023. == Structure ==