Our story
With the benefits that come from roots extending back over 250 years, Osborne Clarke is very much focused on both the future
and the current legal needs of market leading and high performing organisations across Europe and elsewhere.
We service our clients and look after our people in ways that we know would make our founders proud; it's just that we now
do it with around thousand people, spread across 12 countries.
We were founded in Bristol in 1748 by Jeremiah Osborne. The founder's grandson, also Jeremiah, was the solicitor to The Great Western Railway Company and in 1833 rowed Isambard Kingdom Brunel down the River Avon to survey the bank for the route of the Great Western Railway. Over 170 years later, our philosophy remains the same: to do whatever it takes to deliver pragmatic, commercial solutions to our clients and anticipate their future needs.
In the 1980s, we became the first regionally-based law firm to open a London office, focused on corporate transactions. Since this time the City market has become a fundamental aspect of our UK growth, we have a thriving City presence with over 200 lawyers advising City, national and international clients from our base in One London Wall.
During the 1980s our clients' increasingly international aspirations also led us to create the Osborne Clarke Alliance - a joint venture with a number of high quality and likeminded European law firms. The Osborne Clarke Alliance is now active in 19 locations and still growing across Europe.
We opened further offices in Cologne, Germany in 1994, in Thames Valley in 1998 and in Silicon Valley, California in 2000, when we became the first pan-European legal services provider to open for business in the USA's technology capital. During 2005 we added a second office to our German operation in the thriving capital of Bavaria, Munich.
We were founded in Bristol in 1748 by Jeremiah Osborne. The founder's grandson, also Jeremiah, was the solicitor to The Great Western Railway Company and in 1833 rowed Isambard Kingdom Brunel down the River Avon to survey the bank for the route of the Great Western Railway. Over 170 years later, our philosophy remains the same: to do whatever it takes to deliver pragmatic, commercial solutions to our clients and anticipate their future needs.
In the 1980s, we became the first regionally-based law firm to open a London office, focused on corporate transactions. Since this time the City market has become a fundamental aspect of our UK growth, we have a thriving City presence with over 200 lawyers advising City, national and international clients from our base in One London Wall.
During the 1980s our clients' increasingly international aspirations also led us to create the Osborne Clarke Alliance - a joint venture with a number of high quality and likeminded European law firms. The Osborne Clarke Alliance is now active in 19 locations and still growing across Europe.
We opened further offices in Cologne, Germany in 1994, in Thames Valley in 1998 and in Silicon Valley, California in 2000, when we became the first pan-European legal services provider to open for business in the USA's technology capital. During 2005 we added a second office to our German operation in the thriving capital of Bavaria, Munich.