An institution built to stay small.
Mercer & Stone has had one office, one category of client, and one idea of what the firm is for, since 1987. Growth was never the ambition.
Depth over breadth, deliberately.
We are not a full-service firm, and we have never tried to be. Mercer & Stone practises five things — commercial litigation, international arbitration, corporate disputes, insolvency and restructuring, and financial regulation — and nothing else. Every partner, every associate, and every square foot of 1 Finsbury Square exists in service of those five practices.
That focus is a commercial choice as much as a professional one. Clients instructing us on a £300m fraud claim are not looking for a firm that can also do their conveyancing. They are looking for the eleven partners in London who have tried cases like theirs before, and who will still be reachable on a Sunday evening before a Monday hearing.
We act only for FTSE 100 corporates, financial institutions, sovereign wealth funds and the private equity houses that sit above them. We do not act for individuals or small businesses — not because their disputes matter less, but because the firm we have built is calibrated for a different scale of consequence.
— Charles Stone, Senior Partner
One office. Deliberately.
A short list of things we won't compromise on.
Discretion is not a courtesy
It is a competitive advantage. Clients tell us things they would not put in an email, because they trust the conversation stays in the room.
The case file is not the whole picture
Every dispute sits inside a commercial relationship, a regulatory position, or a transaction. We advise on all three.
Restraint is a strategy
We do not litigate to be seen litigating. Settlement, when it serves the client, is treated as a win, not a concession.
Seniority is not optional
A partner leads every matter we take on, from the first call to the final judgment. Associates support; they do not run the file alone.
The rest of the story.
History & Heritage
A visual record of the firm since 1987 — founding letter, first award, retirement speech, and everything between.
How We Think
Eight working positions from the partnership on litigation, settlement, and what clients misunderstand about disputes.
Recognition
How independent legal directories, awards bodies and the financial press have assessed our work.