A&O Shearman: A Brief History Of

1930 → George Allen & Thomas Overy start their firm.

1936 → Firm gains recognition advising King Edward VIII during the abdication crisis.

1963 → Diversifies as both a commercial and financial firm, advising on the first Eurobond.

2000 → Allen & Overy merges with Loeff Claeys Verbeke.

2004 → Converts to a limited liability partnership.

2008 → A&O breaks the £1 billion turnover mark.

2010 → First major firm to let equity partners work part-time.

2010 → Expands to Australia, opening new offices in Perth and Sydney.

2011 → First global law firm to open an office in Casablanca, Morocco.

2014 → Opens Johannesburg office, the first Magic Circle firm in sub-Saharan Africa.

2018 → Planned merger with O’Melveny & Myers falls through.

2019 → Surpasses $1 trillion in terms of deal value.

2021 → Wins International Law Firm of the Year.

2022 → First in the world to use generative AI at enterprise level with Harvey.

2024 → Surpasses £1 billion in profit.

2024 → Merges with Shearman & Sterling to form A&O Shearman, one of the world’s largest law firms.

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