Michael Francies is a solicitor

Solicitor

Solicitors are lawyers who traditionally deal with any legal matter including conducting proceedings in courts. In the United Kingdom, a few Australian states and the Republic of Ireland, the legal profession is split between solicitors and barristers , and a lawyer will usually only hold one title...

 in the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 who specializes in equity financing. He is currently the managing partner of the London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

 office of the United States firm

Law firm

A law firm is a business entity formed by one or more lawyers to engage in the practice of law. The primary service rendered by a law firm is to advise clients about their legal rights and responsibilities, and to represent clients in civil or criminal cases, business transactions, and other...

, Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP

Weil, Gotshal & Manges

Weil, Gotshal & Manges is a prominent international law firm, one of the largest and most prestigious in the world with 1,200 lawyers and gross annual revenue in excess of $1.1 billion. The firm was founded in New York City in 1931 by Frank Weil, Sylvan Gotshal, and Horace Manges...

.
In 2004 he won the "Partner of the Year" award at The Lawyer awards. He followed this by winning the "Deal Lawyer of the Year" award at the Legal Week awards in 2006.

Early life and education

Francies was born in Israel

Israel

The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...

, but moved to the UK with his family as a young child. He did most of his schooling and university there. He earned his law degree at Manchester University (LLB, 1978); and did graduate work in finance at the College of Law, London (LSF, 1979).

Career

After law school and passing the bar, Francies started with Clifford Chance

Clifford Chance

Clifford Chance LLP is a global law firm headquartered in London, United Kingdom and a member of the 'Magic Circle' of leading UK law firms. It is one of the ten largest law firms in the world measured by both number of lawyers and revenue...

, which became one of the largest global law firms after its merger. It is based at Canary Wharf, but has offices throughout Europe, and in other nations, including the United States.

He moved to Weil Gotshal & Manges in 1998. In 2009 an industry magazine described Francies as "the best UK corporate partner currently practising with a US firm."

Francies was among the "Hot 100 2009" by The Lawyer

The Lawyer

The Lawyer is a weekly British magazine for commercial lawyers and corporate directors, first published in 1981. It is owned by Centaur Media plc....

.

Honors

• World's 10 Best Equity Lawyers, Expert Guides, Managing Partners Forum
• 2008, named one of the Times Online's "Law 100", a list of "the most powerful and influential [people] within the law today".