Linklaters LLP is a multinational law firm, headquartered in London, England. Founded in 1838, it is a member of the "Magic Circle" of elite London-headquartered law firms. It currently employs over 3000 lawyers across 30 offices in 20 countries. In financial year 2021-22, Linklaters achieved revenues of £1.78 billion and profits per equity partner of £1.87 million. In the UK, the firm has top-tier rankings across many practice areas, including corporate/M&A, capital markets, litigation, banking and finance, restructuring and insolvency, antitrust and tax. In 2021, Linklaters was ranked second for the number of FTSE 100 clients. For direct deals by institutional investors in the first half of 2016, Linklaters tied for first place. In the 2021 Global Law Firm Brand Index, Linklaters was named as having the world's fourth strongest brand. History Linklaters was founded in London in 1838 when John Linklater entered into a partnership with Julius Dods. The firm, initially known as Dods & Linklater, developed a practice in corporate law, including advising on the creation of the Metropolitan Water Board. On 4 May 1920, the firm, then known as Linklater & Co, merged with another renowned London firm, Paines Blythe & Huxtable, which had been founded by a descendant of Thomas Paine. For most of the twentieth century, Linklaters & Paines was predominately a domestic corporate law firm, with only a small number of overseas offices. However, in 1998, Linklaters & Alliance was created in partnership with many of Europe's leading law firms, including De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek in Amsterdam, De Bandt van Hecke Lagae in Brussels, Loesch & Wolter in Luxembourg, Lagerlöf & Leman in Stockholm and Oppenhoff & Rädler in Germany. Over the next five years, Linklaters & Paines merged with the last four of these Alliance firms, as well as several other European firms, in Belgium, Luxembourg, Sweden, Germany, Czech Republic and Poland. The firm opened new offices in Amsterdam, Bangkok, Beijing, Budapest, Bucharest, Bratislava, Lisbon, Madrid, Milan, Rome, São Paulo, and Shanghai. In 1999, amid this global expansion, the firm shortened its name to Linklaters. On 1 April 2005, after Japan enacted laws to allow certain international law firms to open offices in the country, Linklaters created Japan’s first fully merged law firm practising Japanese, English and US law. Linklaters spun off its offices in Bratislava, Bucharest, Budapest and Prague into a separate firm, Kinstellar (an anagram of Linklaters) in 2007. In the