Philippines

Overview

The firm is a general law practice firm and is one of the oldest in the Philippines. It was established in the Philippines in 1901 by American law practitioners after the Philippines was ceded over to the United States by Spain. Starting as Pillsbury & Sutro, the new firm was affiliated with the San Francisco Law Firm of Pillsbury Madison & Sutro where Pillsbury and Oscar Sutro’s older brother, Alfred, were partners. A year later, or in 1902, the firm took in as a partner a young lawyer by the name of William Hamilton Lawrence and changed its name to: Pillsbury, Sutro & Lawrence. Through the years, the firm’s name underwent many changes until 2010, when it adopted its present name. All partners were Americans until 1936 when the first Filipino Partner, Antonio Carrascoso, was admitted. The firm corresponds with leading law firms around the world. The firm handles all aspects of corporate, commercial and international business transactions, intellectual property, licensing and technology transfers, civil and criminal litigation, admiralty, labor-management relations, and taxation. Representative clients include Bayer, Takeda, NBA Properties, Inc., President and Fellows of Harvard College, Samsung, Lincoln Electric, Philippine Daily Inquirer as well as leading fashion brands and media companies. The firm acts as legal adviser to the American, British, German, Swedish, and Greek Embassies in the Philippines.