Ray Berg elected unopposed as 2nd term UK Managing Partner

The partnership at international legal practice Osborne Clarke has re-elected Ray Berg unopposed for a second four-year term as UK Managing Partner. He will also continue to be a member of the firm’s International Board.

Berg, a corporate lawyer for more than 25 years, joined the firm in 2001 and became head of the Business Transactions Group in 2011. In 2015 he was elected UK Managing Partner, taking up the torch from Simon Beswick. Later in 2015, the firm completed a legal sector first and was awarded Law Firm of the Year by both The Lawyer and Legal Business.

Over the past five years, Osborne Clarke has achieved outstanding revenue growth and nearly doubled its total UK income from £76m (in 12/13) to £139m (in 17/18), most recently announcing a 15% revenue increase in the UK (14% international) in 17/18.

"We've achieved a lot during the last four years but there's more we can do. I plan to continue to invest and develop our people and our business to make Osborne Clarke the law firm of the future.

"Recruitment and retention, innovation and technology are all still on the list but a big focus will also continue to be around making our business more diverse. We want to provide more opportunities for more talented people to succeed," said Ray.

Under Berg's leadership, the firm has introduced a wide range of initiatives focused on social mobility, diversity and wellbeing that have led to greater engagement amongst employees and recognition from industry bodies.

Ray is a trustee of the Social Mobility Business Partnership and sits on the steering committee of RollOnMonday a programme that works with St Mungo’s to break the cycle of homelessness. He is also involved in supporting Bristol's SteppingUp Programme, which aims to encourage more people from BAME backgrounds into senior leadership roles across Bristol. And in the last year, under Ray's leadership, the firm has launched female progression initiatives, networking groups for LGBT+ and BAME and is in the process of setting up a disability network.

The firm has ranked in the top five of RollOnFriday's independent Firm of the Year employee survey for the last three years, scoring highly for its friendly culture and management. Osborne Clarke was also commended for its Osborne Clarke Solutions work at the FT Innovative Lawyer Awards in 2017 and 2018.

"We have a fantastic team that has made being Managing Partner a real pleasure. I'd like to thank our entire team for all their support and hard work over the past four years," said Ray.

Senior Partner Andrew Saul said:

"On behalf of all the partnership I congratulate Ray on being elected for a further term as Managing Partner. I'm not in the least surprised he has been re-elected unopposed as during his first term Ray has proven himself to be an extremely popular, effective and successful leader of the firm."