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The Assurance Desk

Osborne Clarke LLP review

Advisory firm

A law firm in England and Wales, regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority. Chambers UK and Legal 500 rank its data protection practice, which advises on AI governance.

Relevant if you need solicitors for an ICO crisis, a subject access dispute or an AI rollout

Price Not published
Indemnity cover Published
How it uses AI Published
Facts last checked

Not published means we did not find it on the firm's own pages.

Osborne Clarke scores

Six scores, each 1 to 5. The evidence for each is further down.

Help when things go wrong 4/5
Qualifications of the people who do the work 4/5
What it publishes about fees 2/5
Knowledge of your sector 5/5
Independence from what it sells 2/5
Who carries the risk if the advice is wrong 3/5

What Osborne Clarke offers, and what it publishes

You get a law firm whose data protection practice Chambers UK has ranked for 11 consecutive years, currently in Band 3. Legal 500 London puts it in Tier 3, with Mark Taylor as practice head. It names its AI work: it advised OncoDNA on rolling out an AI tool for determining cancer treatments, and chairs ITechLaw's Responsible AI Committee.

Osborne Clarke does not publish a price. Its transparency page says it is 'not practicable to provide a total cost for each individual service', and it gives an estimate only once you instruct it. It says it holds the minimum professional indemnity cover the SRA requires, but does not name the insurer or the amount.

The firm has a commercial stake in AI software. In May 2026 it spun out Justima, an AI regulatory-monitoring company, and holds a majority stake in it as strategic investor. Separately, in January 2026 the High Court overturned in full a Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal's misconduct finding against Ashley Hurst, a data protection partner ranked by Chambers UK.

Strengths

  • Ranked Band 3 in Chambers UK Data Protection & Information Law for 11 consecutive years, and Tier 3 in Legal 500 London for data protection, privacy and cybersecurity.
  • Named, credentialed practice head (Mark Taylor, Partner, Head of Digitalisation; Fellow of the Society for Computers and Law) with a dedicated data-protection and AI practice page.
  • One of only three international law firms named a Europrivacy (EDPB-endorsed GDPR certification scheme) partner firm.
  • Real, findable AI-governance work: advised OncoDNA on an AI cancer-treatment tool rollout; chairs ITechLaw's Responsible AI Committee.
  • SRA-recognised body since 2015 with 649 regulated staff and no disciplinary decisions currently published on its SRA register.

Things to check

  • Publishes no price ranges or hourly rates for data-protection or AI-governance advisory work.
  • Holds a majority ownership stake in an AI regulatory-compliance software company it spun out of its own practice.

Common questions

Does Osborne Clarke publish its fees?

No. Its transparency page says it is not practicable to give a total cost for each service. It gives an individual estimate only once you have instructed it.

Is Osborne Clarke regulated?

Yes. The Solicitors Regulation Authority lists it as a recognised body since 1 May 2015, reference 619990, with 649 regulated individuals and no disciplinary decisions published on its register entry.

Is Osborne Clarke linked to a GDPR certification scheme?

Yes. In October 2022 it was named a partner law firm of Europrivacy, the EDPB-endorsed certification scheme for the EU GDPR. The firm says it was then one of only three international law firms, with DLA Piper and Dentons, accredited by Europrivacy.

Does Osborne Clarke say how it uses AI?

Partly. Its privacy policy says it uses InterAction, Introhive or both, which use AI to research news feeds and analyse business contact data for marketing. We found no statement on how it uses AI in client work.

Evidence for each Osborne Clarke score

Show our working

Notes behind each thing to check

  • Publishes no price ranges or hourly rates for data-protection or AI-governance advisory work. (Firm's own transparency page states it is 'not practicable to provide a total cost for each individual service' and gives only an individual estimate once a client is instructed.)
  • Holds a majority ownership stake in an AI regulatory-compliance software company it spun out of its own practice. ("Osborne Clarke holds a shareholding in Justima as a strategic investor and holds the majority" (Justima, spun out May 2026, delivers AI-driven regulatory monitoring).)
Six criteria, each scored 1 to 5, with the evidence for each.
CriterionScoreEvidence
Help when things go wrong 4/5 Chambers and Legal 500 both cite strengths in ICO crisis management and contentious subject access request litigation.
Qualifications of the people who do the work 4/5 SRA-recognised body 619990, 649 regulated staff, 11-year Chambers ranking; a ranked DP partner's 2024 SDT finding was fully overturned by the High Court in 2026.
What it publishes about fees 2/5 Own transparency page gives no rates or price ranges; estimates are provided only once a client instruction has begun.
Knowledge of your sector 5/5 Named practice head, decade-plus Chambers/Legal 500 rankings, and named AI matters such as the OncoDNA cancer-AI rollout.
Independence from what it sells 2/5 Firm holds a majority stake, as strategic investor, in Justima, an AI-compliance software company it spun out in 2026.
Who carries the risk if the advice is wrong 3/5 Own terms state it maintains SRA-minimum professional indemnity cover, but names no insurer or sum insured.

Sources for Osborne Clarke

  • Osborne Clarke LLP is a registered limited liability partnership in England and Wales. (Company number OC397443, incorporated 12 January 2015, status Active, registered office One London Wall, London EC2Y 5EB.) (Companies House, checked 19 September 2026)
  • Osborne Clarke LLP is authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority. (SRA number 619990, recognised body since 01/05/2015, authorised for all legal services, 649 SRA-regulated individuals, no disciplinary decisions currently published on the SRA register.) (sra.org.uk, checked 19 September 2026)
  • Osborne Clarke's Data Protection & Information Law practice is ranked by Chambers UK. (Band 3, ranked for 11 consecutive years; individually ranked lawyers include Ashley Hurst (Band 3), Georgina Graham (Band 5) and Mark Taylor (Band 5).) (chambers.com, checked 19 September 2026)
  • Osborne Clarke's data protection, privacy and cybersecurity practice is ranked by Legal 500 London. (Tier 3, practice head Mark Taylor; other named lawyers Ashley Hurst, Georgina Graham and Jonathan McDonald.) (legal500.com, checked 19 September 2026)
  • Osborne Clarke LLP was named a partner law firm of Europrivacy, the EDPB-endorsed GDPR certification scheme. (Announced 13 October 2022; the firm's own article states it is one of only three international law firms (with DLA Piper and Dentons) currently accredited by Europrivacy.) (osborneclarke.com, checked 19 September 2026)
  • In May 2026 Osborne Clarke spun out an AI-driven regulatory-monitoring company, Justima, retaining a majority ownership stake. ("Osborne Clarke holds a shareholding in Justima as a strategic investor and holds the majority"; co-founders came from Osborne Clarke Solutions.) (artificiallawyer.com, checked 19 September 2026)
  • A ranked Osborne Clarke data-protection partner was found guilty of professional misconduct by the SDT in 2024; the High Court fully overturned that finding in 2026. (SDT case 12612-2024 fined Ashley Hurst £50,000 plus £260,000 costs (Dec 2024); Hurst v SRA [2026] EWHC 85 (Admin), 20 Jan 2026 (Mrs Justice Collins Rice), allowed his appeal in full, set aside the findings and costs order, and the SRA repaid the £260,000 plus interest.) (judiciary.uk, checked 19 September 2026)
  • Osborne Clarke discloses using AI tools to process business-contact personal data for marketing purposes. (Privacy policy: uses InterAction and/or Introhive "utilising artificial intelligence to research news feeds, sites, posts etc and performing analytics"; data retained for the length of the business relationship and deleted on a right-to-be-forgotten request.) (osborneclarke.com, checked 19 September 2026)
  • The High Court quashed the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal's 2023 misconduct finding and £50,000 fine against Osborne Clarke partner Ashley Hurst, ruling there was no misconduct and no SLAPP, and ordered the SRA to pay him an interim £400,000 costs payment. (SDT finding overturned on appeal; case closed in the solicitor's favour) (judiciary.uk, checked 20 September 2026)
  • Trustpilot: Osborne Clarke's Trustpilot profile has only one review (TrustScore 3.2/5) and is unclaimed by the firm. The single 1-star review (Nov 2022) is about Bristol-office recruitment/hiring process delays, not data-protection or AI-governance advisory work, so it is not a usable signal of service quality. (Trustpilot, checked 20 September 2026)

SRA-authorised and regulated, reference 619990 (stated on sra.org.uk) Europrivacy (EDPB-endorsed GDPR certification scheme) partner firm since October 2022 (stated on osborneclarke.com)

After a breach or ICO contactSeeking ISO 42001 certificationExposed to the EU AI Act

Where this firm appears

If you represent this firm and something here is wrong or out of date, email hello@theassurancedesk.com with the evidence.

This is an independent editorial guide, not legal advice.