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The many paths US global firms have taken to growth, from rescuing clients from the Nazis to the perils of the Middle East

Switzerland Recommended firms Tier 1 Bär & Karrer Homburger Lenz & Staehelin Tier 2 Baker & McKenzie Niederer Kraft & Frey Pestalozzi Lachenal Patry Tier 3 Schellenberg Wittmer Vischer Walder Wyss & Partners Wenger & Vieli A steady economy, high standards of living and a favourable tax environment are all reasons why multinationals such as Kraft, Google, Yahoo and eBay are choosing to set up headquarters in Zurich and the Geneva area.

Japan Recommended firms Tier 1 Anderson Mori & Tomotsune Linklaters Mori Hamada & Matsumoto Morrison & Foerster Nagashima Ohno & Tsunematsu Nishimura & Asahi Tier 2 Allen & Overy Clifford Chance Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer O'Melveny & Myers Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom Sullivan & Cromwell Tier 3 Baker & McKenzie GJBJ Tokyo Aoyama Aoki Law Office Jones Day Paul Hastings Janofsky & Walker Shearman & Sterling White & Case The Japanese legal market has been in flux this year, following the merger of Nishimura & Partners and Asahi Koma Law Firm, leaving some firms to mourn the loss of key figures while allowing others to celebrate privileged additions. In particular, Baker & McKenzie's Tokyo practice welcomed partner Fumio Koma and his team. And the market heard opportunity knocking – Freshfields relocated partners James Wood and Edward Cole from its London office to its Tokyo branch.

Turkey Recommended firms Tier 1 Derman Düren Akol Avukatlik Burosu Hergüner Bilgen Özeke Paksoy & Co Pekin & Pekin Tier 2 Bircanoglu Birsel Law Offices Caga & Caga Cakmak Avukatlik Bürosu Pekin & Bayar Taboglu Ates & Demirhan Tier 3 ECE Guner Unlu Law Offices Esin Lokmanhekim Ictem Gürkaynak M Fadlullah Cerrahoglu Law Offices "A rising tide raises the boats" is the phrase a partner used to describe the present Turkish legal market. The economy is growing fast, and domestic companies and foreign investors are realising the potential the country has to offer.

Romania Recommended firms Tier 1 Linklaters Miculiti Mihai & Asociatii Musat & Asociatii Nestor Nestor Diculescu Kingston Peterson Tuca Zbârcea & Asociatii Tier 2 Badea Clifford Chance CMS Cameron McKenna Gide Loyrette Nouel Popovici Nitu & Asociatii Tier 3 BPV Grigorescu Bulboaca & Asociatii Salans Schönherr si Asociatii Stoica & Asociatii Voicu & Filipescu Zamfirescu Racoti Predoiu These are exciting times to be a lawyer in Romania. The market is at its most active ever, and it can only get busier. No wonder then that partners and senior associates are leaving their firms to form new ones to take advantage of the wider market. Adrian-Catalin Bulboaca left Linklaters Miculiti Mihai & Asociatii and formed Bulboaca & Asociatii in early 2007. Daniel Badea went on to set up a practice with Clifford Chance, bringing one more magic-circle firm into the Romanian market. And in 2005, eight lawyers left Musat & Asociatii to establish Tuca Zbârcea & Asociatii, which has emerged as one of the burgeoning outfits in the market.

Norway Recommended firms Tier 1 BA-HR Thommessen Wiersholm Tier 2 Schjødt Selmer Wikborg Rein Tier 3 Arntzen de Besche Steenstrup Stordrange The story of the year in Norwegian M&A was without a doubt Statoil's merger with Norsk Hydro. The plan was signed by the board of directors of Hydro and Statoil in March and was completed in October 2007. The NKr175 billion (€22 billion) merger created the world's largest offshore exploration company and was one of the biggest transactions in Europe this year.

Ireland Recommended firms Tier 1 A&L Goodbody Arthur Cox Matheson Ormsby Prentice McCann FitzGerald William Fry Tier 2 Mason Hayes + Curran O'Donnell Sweeney Eversheds Tier 3 Eugene F Collins LK Shields Ireland's swelling property market has meant that mergers and acquisitions transactions have had as much to do with land values as company value. For example the value of the land in the recent Jury's Inn £750 million sale was said to be just as important as the value of the business. With the commercial property market expected to rise in the coming years, corporate and property lawyers could be getting to know each other a lot more intimately in the near future.

France Recommended firms Tier 1 Bredin Prat Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton Darrois Villey Maillot Brochier Linklaters Tier 2 Gide Loyrette Nouel Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom Sullivan & Cromwell Tier 3 Ashurst Clifford Chance Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer Orrick Rambaud Martel Shearman & Sterling Weil Gotshal & Manges Willkie Farr & Gallagher In recent years France has seen a steep rise in private equity. Hedge funds also now wield much more influence and funds are often demanding changes in the way companies are run. This phenomenon has been labelled as shareholder activism, and the expectations of these investors, which are often rooted in short-term gains, can be very different to those of classical public shareholders. And they frequently get their own way – the possession of large equity blocks, and the ability to band together, allows these funds to push through even the most drastic of changes.

Germany Recommended firms Tier 1 Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer Hengeler Mueller Tier 2 Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton Clifford Chance Gleiss Lutz Linklaters Tier 3 Allen & Overy Baker & McKenzie CMS Hasche Sigle Latham & Watkins Shearman & Sterling Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom White & Case It was a record-breaking year for the mergers and acquisitions market in Germany. The scene was set in early 2006 with Bayer's €16 billion acquisition of Schering and culminated with Porsche's €75.7 billion share increase in Volkswagen.

Finland Recommended firms Tier 1 Hannes Snellman Roschier Tier 2 Borenius & Kemppinen Castrén & Snellman White & Case Tier 3 Dittmar & Indrenius Fennica Merilampi Marttila Laitasalo Waselius & Wist Tier 4 Krogerus Attorneys LMR Cross-border expansion has been the talking point of the market of late, with the big firms opening foreign offices to take advantage of their clients' desire to tap the resources of developing markets. Hannes Snellman and Castrén & Snellman have concentrated on Russia, while Roschier has opened offices in Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia.