History 

A brief history of Bird & Bird

• 1846 William Frederick Wratislaw Bird founds a law firm in Gray's Inn in partnership with James Moore. The firm is called Bird & Moore.
• 1853 Bird & Moore takes up residence at 5 Gray's Inn Square, London where the firm remains until 1941.
• 1884 The firm's founder, WFW Bird dies at the age of 74. His son, William Barrott Montford Bird, carries on the practice and builds a strong clientele in the coal mining and iron making sector. WBM Bird later forms one of the first electric light bulb companies whose successor - now a household name - is still a client of the firm.
• 1898 Now known as Bird Moore & Strode, the firm instructs D M Kerly in its first reported trade mark case - an application by The Eastman Photographic Materials Company Ltd to register 'Solio' in respect of photographic paper.
• 1905 The firm is renamed Bird & Bird under the leadership of W B M Bird and his cousin Ernest Edward Bird.
• 1909 Bird & Bird conducts its first reported patent case. The case of 'Z' Electric Manufacturing Co Ltd v Marples, Leach & Co Ltd concerned filaments for incandescent electric bulbs.
• 1941 Bird & Bird is forced to move premises after the building at 5 Gray's Inn Square is destroyed in an air raid.
• 1943 Ernest E Bird serves as president of the Law Society and is reputed to have chaired their shortest ever AGM due to an air raid warning. He was knighted the following year.
• 1950 Sir William Bird (knighted in 1920) dies - leaving the firm 'Birdless' for the first time since its foundation.
• 1954 The firm returns to Gray`s Inn Square, moving into newly rebuilt chambers at No 2.
• 1958 The merger with Richard Furber & Son Windsor & Brown ushers in a new age with the arrival of Alan Woods, who eventually becomes Senior Partner.
• 1967 Bird & Bird gains two new partners on its merger with Ranken Ford & Chester, a firm with one of the oldest histories in London, its origins dating back to the 18th Century.
• 1973 Alan Woods co-founds the Society for Computers and Law and becomes its first paying member.
• 1984 Telecoms liberalisation gets under way in the UK. Bird & Bird gains its first telecoms client and places itself at the forefront of legal developments in this field.
• 1989 Bird & Bird conducts the first Judicial Review of OFTEL.
• 1990 Every Bird & Bird lawyer has a PC on his/her desk.
• 1991 The firm opens its EC office in Belgium (Brussels).
• 1995 Bird & Bird opens its doors to a global audience through the launch of www.twobirds.com; one of the first law firms with an on-line presence. The firm also opens for business in Hong Kong.
• 2000 Bird & Bird begins an ambitious 5 year development programme by opening for business in France (Paris) and Sweden (Stockholm).
• 2001 Bird & Bird opens in The Netherlands (The Hague).
• 2002 Bird & Bird opens for business in Germany (Düsseldorf).
• 2003 A busy year for Bird & Bird, with new offices in Italy (Milan) and a second office in Germany (Munich).
• 2004 A landmark in Bird & Bird’s growth as the number of partners exceeds 100 for the first time. The practice in Asia expands with the opening of an office in China (Beijing).
• 2005 An even busier year for new offices: Spain (Madrid) a second office in Italy (Rome) and a third office in Germany (Frankfurt).
• 2006 Bird & Bird opens a second office in France (Lyon).
• 2008 Bird & Bird wins International Law Firm of the Year at The Lawyer Awards 2008. The firm has its most expansive year to date with four new offices in Central Europe - Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia and a third office in China (Shanghai). In a busy twelve months the firm also opens for business in Finland (Helsinki), and expands its London operation via a merger with Lane & Partners. On 29 November, Bird & Bird converted to limited liability partnership status (LLP).
• 2009 Bird & Bird enters into a global association with Alban Tay Mahtani & de Silva LLP (ATMD), one of Singapore’s leading law firms. The Singapore office is known as ATMD Bird & Bird.
• 2011 Bird & Bird opens its fourth German office in Hamburg.
• 2011 Bird & Bird opens in Abu Dhabi, its first office in the Middle East.