Ogier is shortlisted for 2 awards and recognised as top 10 law firm by industry commentators

Ogier's position as a leader in offshore law has been confirmed by four legal market commentators. 

The firm, which has offices in Jersey, Guernsey, Luxembourg, the Cayman Islands, BVI and Hong Kong, has been shortlisted for the title International Law Firm of the Year – EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) by Citywealth, whose Magic Circle Awards are held annually to find the best advisors and managers in the global industry and the winners will be announced in May.

Ogier has also been announced as a finalist in the Offshore Law Firm of the Year category in the Chambers Europe Awards 2015. These awards recognise a law firm’s pre-eminence in key countries in the European region and will be announced in April.

And Ogier has been named as one of the top 10 offshore law firms by both Legal Business and The Lawyer, who ranked Ogier 4th in its annual survey of offshore law firms. Firms are ranked by number of qualified lawyers and, in the case of a tie, by the number of partners. The Lawyer notes that Ogier in Jersey is the second largest firm by number of qualified lawyers, with only one fewer lawyer than Mourant Ozannes.

Ogier's global managing partner, Nick Kershaw, confirms that the Ogier is expanding its position as one of the major international law firms. 

"We are launching a Tax team which draws together partners in each of our offices with specific tax structuring expertise and who understand the wider tax aspects of our clients' businesses.  We are expanding our Dispute Resolution offering in Asia offering clients in the Asia Pacific region a first class Dispute Resolution service in their own time zone. 

“Our impressive growth rates in Luxembourg, where we are the only Channel Island firm to offer a Luxembourg capability, and the numerous joint mandates with other offices underline the attractiveness of our multi-jurisdictional strategy to global clients and we are anticipating further growth in this area."

In its tenth annual offshore survey The Lawyer states that 'offshore firms are thriving despite sustained media and political attacks on their domiciles' reputation'. Legal Week also picked up this theme and interviewed Ogier Luxembourg partner Francois Pfister in their recent article about the turbulent Eurozone. 

The Lawyer reports that contributing factors to the offshore sector's optimism is the volume of deal activity going on. As worldwide M&A activity soared last year there was, as usual, a knock-on effect with many companies having an offshore element in their structure. Those transactions included mergers such as the £5.6bn tie-up between insurers Aviva and Friends Life, which gave roles to Ogier and Carey Olsen on Guernsey law aspects.

Ogier continues to achieve coverage for transactions such as the sale of Jurys Inn and the recent £122m Waterlogic deal, as well as the sale of Moorfield’s portfolio of Real Estate to Lone Star, the financing of the development of Baltimore Wharf in London and the refinancing of the Angel Trains Group.