Willkie Farr & Gallagher’s landmark $850m Commercial Court win last year for Thai businessman Nopporn Suppipat was not just great news for the US firm’s client. The man at the sharp end of this battle, Peter Burrell, was pitting his wits against some of the market’s biggest litigation beasts and won. Notaly, Burrell is not only the chair of the firm’s London disputes group but is also Willkie’s London managing partner. As such, Burrell’s role is two-fold: To keep on growing the dispute resolution practice that now makes up around a third of Willkie’s City office and to oversee the wider build-out of his firm in the world’s most demanding legal market.
The US firm’s first English law lawyer when he joined back in 2012, Burrell has a booming caseload ahead of him in 2024 and the Suppipat case sent up a rocket to the legal market that, though smaller than many of its peers, Willkie’s London disputes team can handle the most complex, demanding cases and come out on top.