History

From its beginnings in shipping and shipping finance in 1982, Watson, Farley & Williams has developed a broader practice: Finance & Investment, Maritime, Energy, Natural Resources, Transport, Real Estate and ICT. A detailed history of the firm, The Spirit of Enterprise was published for its 25th anniversary in 2007.

Expanding geographically with 12 offices in Europe, Asia and USA, the most recent office openings were in Madrid

Madrid

Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...

 (November 2009), Munich

Munich

Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...

 (June 2008) and Milan

Milan

Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...

(May 2008).

Watson, Farley & Williams Asia Practice, a joint venture between Watson, Farley & Williams LLP and Asia Practice LLP, was launched in October 2011. The partners operating within Watson, Farley & Williams Asia Practice focus on corporate, finance, litigation and dispute resolution.

Corporate Social Responsibility

Watson, Farley & Williams is a member of the Legal Sector Alliance (LSA), an initiative for UK law firms that promotes awareness of climate change and highlights the potential impact of our activities. The London encourages the UK Government’s Cycle to Work scheme. Other offices have also contributed to reducing the firm’s overall carbon footprint through environmental initiatives. Employees from across the firm also take part in a variety of fundraising activities, ranging from sponsored sporting activities to donating used office equipment.

In addition to winning the Law Society’s Excellence in Social Responsibility – Pro Bono Award in 2008, the firm sponsors Toynbee Hall’s Free Legal Advice Centre.

The firm ranked 4th out of the UK top 50 law firms within the "Workplace Giving Scheme" table in 2008.