The Best Friends network of independent law firms allows Bredin Prat to constitute fully integrated teams comprised of the best lawyers in foreign jurisdictions.

In the context of cross-border deals, this model allows Bredin Prat to provide global legal services while remaining the lead strategic counsel for the client.

Bredin Prat is one of the founding members of the Best Friends network, which was formed in Europe over fifteen years ago and now comprises BonelliErede (Italy), Bredin Prat (France), De Brauw (the Netherlands), Hengeler Mueller (Germany), Slaughter and May (the United Kingdom) and Uría Menéndez (Spain/Portugal).

The Best Friends currently have 37 offices, including shared offices in Brussels, Beijing and Shanghai. Present in some 20 jurisdictions, the network currently has more than 2,700 lawyers.

The firm has similarly fostered close working relations with a second, far more extensive network of independent firms across the United States, Latin America, Europe, Asia, Africa and the Middle East.

LEAGUE TABLES

In 2021, the 6 Best Friends firms of the Best Friends network worked on many M&A transactions in their respective jurisdictions, placing the network at the top of the European league tables for 2021 (by value, US$m*).

Source: MergerMarket

*The data shown is a count of deals where a lawyer advised either a target, bidder or seller for a deal where the target was European-based. The data was drawn from the Mergermarket database and analysed by Acuris Studios. This is not the same table as the official Mergermarket H1 2021 or Q3 2021 quarterly legal advisors league tables