Surridge & Beecheno

The firm: Surridge & Beecheno was founded in 1948 in Karachi by two British barristers, Charles Surridge and Peter Beecheno. Both founding partners had a family history of legal practice in Rangoon (Burma) going back to the middle of the 19th century. Over the years, the firm expanded and inducted several Pakistani partners, and opened branch offices in Lahore and Chittagong in then East Pakistan.

The firm, with its principal offices in Karachi and Lahore, now has four partners and more than 40 associates, mostly educated and trained in the UK and USA. The firm has other principal offices in Karachi, and correspondent lawyers throughout Pakistan.

Areas of practice: The firm takes pride in providing a full range of services to clients and is dedicated to providing the highest quality legal representation to institutional and individual clients who demand the sophistication and expertise of a large law firm and also wish to benefit from the more individualised, cost-effective client services.

The partners of Surridge & Beecheno have acted as chairmen and directors of many companies set up in Pakistan and sit on the boards of some of Pakistan’s largest public companies and of many multinational private companies. They are active members of the International Bar Association and Inter-Pacific Bar Association and have read papers on different topics in various international conferences. The firm provides legal services in almost all parts of Pakistan and has trained personnel specialising in different branches of law. The firm, while maintaining its position as the oldest law firm in Pakistan delivering the highest quality of legal services, is committed towards making contributions to the legislative process, assisting courts and tribunals in setting new standards in enforcement prosecution practices.

The firm’s partners have appeared as counsel in many landmark cases and secured decisions by the Supreme Court of Pakistan laying down the law that is followed as precedents.

The firm also provides its clients with negotiation, mediation, conciliation, and arbitration services. It also assists and advises by its presence on the boards of various charitable institutions. Partners and associates of the firm are also accredited mediators from CEDR, UK and also provide mediation advocacy services.

The firm has handled multimillion-dollar transactions including but not limited to: mergers, takeovers, acquisitions, privatisations, investments, project finance, syndication, contracts of all kinds, back-to-back agreements, incorporation of companies, corporate, commercial matters of all nature and all kind of related litigation.