About Us

The Association of European Lawyers (AEL) was founded in 1989 with the object of providing readily available expert legal services across Europe. AEL was originally established by the combining of resources of five leading law firms in the UK, following which a non-exclusive network of correspondent firms throughout Europe was developed, offering a broad range of legal services for business, with high standards of care and efficiency.

AEL is now a network of 37 independent law firms who work together on cross-border transactions and other multi-jurisdictional casework. The member firms who are part of AEL have offices based in 31 different jurisdictions across Europe including:-

Austria; Bulgaria; Channel Islands; Cyprus; Czech Republic; Denmark; Estonia; Finland; France; Germany; Gibraltar; Greece; Iceland; Ireland; Isle of Man; Italy; Latvia; Liechtenstein; Lithuania; Luxembourg; Norway; Poland; Portugal; Romania; Russia; Spain; Sweden; Switzerland; The Netherlands; Turkey and the UK.

One or two member firms from each European country are selected for membership and the members collectively have affiliates throughout the rest of the world.

AEL is managed by an Executive Committee which sets the standards for membership and carefully reviews performance.

AEL members pride themselves on being good friends as well as colleagues, sharing information, working together and providing expert local lawyers whom AEL believes can give a better service to multinational clients than one law firm with branches across Europe.

AEL provides legal assistance covering practice areas including:-

Commercial; Commercial Dispute Resolution; Commercial Property; Competition; Corporate; Corporate Tax; Dispute Resolution; Employment; Environment & Renewables; Finance; Healthcare; Human Resources; Insurance; Intellectual Property/IT; Private Client/Family; Projects, Energy and Natural Resources; Public Sector; Real Estate; Sports & Media; Technology, Media & Telecoms and Transport.

If you require further information about AEL’s services, please contact either an Executive Committee Member or the Executive Team ael@europeanlawyers.org who will be able to assist with your enquiry.

Jeff Gillbanks
AEL Secretary General



The Association of European Lawyers is a company limited by guarantee and not having a share capital. Company Registration #: 04001353. Registered office: 5 Fleet Place, London EC4M 7RD, UK