The firm is the result of a merger of three firms: Freshfields; Deringer Tessin Herrmann & Sedemund, and Bruckhaus Westrick Heller Löber.
In the 1980s and 90s Freshfields, well-known in the London market, concentrated on building a strong international network. It had several European offices but it knew it was underweight in a key European market - Germany.
Three firms with the same ambition
Freshfields merged with Deringer in the early part of 2000 and then with Bruckhaus later the same year. Both firms were well known in Germany. And both had ambitions that lay beyond Europe. They wanted to be international law firms. To achieve this, they knew that they needed a strong London presence because most international deals are conducted under English law.
Nearly every large law firm is the result of one or several mergers. And, as every business that has merged with another will tell you, what matters is a shared culture. Mergers are a success when the businesses share the same values.
Our merger in 2000 has been a resounding success. We are one firm and every client receives the same high standard of service in every part of the world.
It was important to all of us that it was a merger of equals. And that is still true today. One office may be larger than another, but there is no hierarchy. No feeling that one office is more important than another.
A bit more history
The firm can trace its roots back to 1743, when the Bank of England appointed Samuel Dodd as its solicitor. (Over 250 years later, the Bank of England is still a client of the firm.)
The firm took on the name Freshfields with the arrival of James Freshfield in the early 19th century.
Bruckhaus can trace its roots back to 1840, when the firm's first office was founded in Hamburg. It merged with Heller Löber Bahn, an Austrian firm, in 1998 to form Bruckhaus Westrick Heller Löber.
Deringer Tessin Hermann & Sedemund was founded in 1962 in Bonn and moved its offices to Cologne in 1970.