Global Arbitration Review (GAR) has unveiled its annual ranking of the world’s leading international arbitration practices, with Herbert Smith Freehills ranked sixth in the world.
The firm’s GAR 30 ranking appears in the 15th edition of the GAR 100, which was revealed last night at the annual GAR Awards ceremony at the InterContinental hotel in Paris.
GAR reveals that the firm’s portfolio as counsel amassed US$122.4 billion, approaching three times more than the portfolio value in 2018, and includes 7 cases worth more than US$5 billion and 12 further cases exceeding the US$1 billion mark.
The firm also achieves a large number of peer-recognised specialists across the global network, having a total of 14 people featured in ‘Who’s Who Legal’.
As in previous years, the GAR 30 is based on a quantitative analysis, ranking firms according to a number of different factors including the number of arbitral hearings conducted by a firm over a two-year period. The research considers merits and jurisdictional hearings, the amount in dispute in those cases and the number of hours billed to arbitration over that period. The number of high value matters settled during the window and the portfolio value of a firm’s active arbitration caseload is also taken into account.
Rankings are also based on the number of arbitrator appointments a firm’s members have received and the number of individuals who appear in GAR’s sister publication, Who’s Who Legal: Arbitration – a guide to the leading practitioners in the field as selected by their peers.
The full GAR 30 can be found here.
Paula Hodges QC, who heads Herbert Smith Freehills’ Global Arbitration Practice, said: “Herbert Smith Freehills has been ranked in the top 10 busiest arbitration practices in the world for nine years in a row. We can only achieve this high ranking so consistently because our clients trust us to manage their most high profile and high value disputes. This is wonderful and deserving recognition for our global practice, and a testament to the talent of the whole team.”
