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Harney Westwood & Riegels (or Harneys) is an offshore magic circle law firm headquartered in the British Virgin Islands (BVI). It also has offices in Bermuda, the Cayman Islands, Cyprus, Hong Kong, London, Montevideo, Shanghai, Singapore, Tokyo and Vancouver, and an affiliated office in Mauritius. It offers advice in Anguillan, Bermudan, BVI, Caymanian, Cypriot and Mauritius law. The current managing partner is Peter Tarn.
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In 2016 Harneys was named Offshore Law Firm of the Year by The Lawyer in its annual awards.
History
Harneys is the oldest and largest legal practice in the BVI. Combined with its affiliated fiduciary services business, Harneys is the second largest private employer in the BVI. The firm began in 1958 when Harold Harney formed the first resident legal practice to be set up in the BVI. He was joined by Neville Westwood in 1967 and Michael Riegels in 1973.
Notable Harneys alumni include:
The firm has worked closely with the government of the BVI over the years in relation to the development of the offshore finance industry in the Territory. Three of the partners of the firm formed part of the "gang of five" that drafted the original International Business Companies Act, and members of the firm were also closely involved in the drafting of subsequent key legislation including the Insolvency Act 2003, the BVI Business Companies Act 2004 and the Securities and Investment Business Act 2010.
Offices
The firm expanded steadily in terms of new offices for many years, followed by a surge of five new offices in two years in 2014–2015. The first new office was opened in Anguilla (1998), followed by London (2002), Hong Kong (2005), the Cayman Islands (2008), Cyprus (2009), Montevideo (2010), Singapore (2014), Vancouver (2014), Bermuda (2015), Shanghai (2015) and Tokyo (2015). In 2013 the firm entered into a strategic alliance with BLC Chambers in Mauritius to give it Mauritius legal capability.
Practice
Specialising in corporate and commercial law, the firm is especially well known for its corporate & finance, investment funds and commercial litigation practices. It also had dedicated practice groups relating to regulatory compliance (including tax information exchange) and sanctions.
Partners at Harneys wrote the first, and to date only, legal textbook on British Virgin Islands law: British Virgin Islands Commercial Law, published by Sweet & Maxwell, now in its third edition.
Harneys is also one of only two law firms in the world (the other being Allen & Overy) which provides official opinions to ISDA on close-out netting analysis for three or more different jurisdictions (BVI, Anguilla and Cyprus).
Rankings
Harneys is ranked in most of the jurisdictions in which it practices (normally in Band 1) of various international legal directories. As of 2014, Harney's ratings include:
CSR and Philanthropy
Harneys is involved in a number of charitable and philanthropic causes, predominantly in the British Virgin Islands. Harneys sponsors and financially supports the Francis Lettsome Primary School. The firm provides pro bono legal services to a number of organisations including Green VI, an environmental NGO, and Sir Richard Branson's Nature Conservation Project. Members of the firm also serve as non-executive directors of the BVI Humane Society, the BVI Paralympics Organisation, and Virgin Islands Search and Rescue.