Appleby Spurling Hunter has been recognised as a leading offshore law firm in a number of recently released international publications.

Chambers and Partners Global Directory awarded Appleby Spurling Hunter a number one ranking in Bermuda.

Appleby was the only firm to receive rankings in all three of the key offshore jurisdictions of Bermuda, the Cayman Islands and the British Virgin Islands.

The Directory also singles out individual attorneys for recognition and of all the Bermuda firms, the global Appleby organisation had the most number of attorneys recognised.

According to the recently released online version of the directory, "Excellent staff, good coverage and a strong brand have led to the firm's recognition as a top-class offshore law firm."

The International Financial Law Review also released its online listings of recommended firms. Appleby was given a top spot, with client comments such as, "yards ahead of the others" and "extremely high standards and practical approach to solving problems."

The annual Legal 500 ratings, likewise recognise Appleby with top spots and recommended the firm's Hong Kong for offshore legal services.

In an evaluation of firms based solely on size, the 23 January 2006 issue of The Lawyer, lists Appleby as tied for a fourth place ranking of all offshore law firms, based on the number of partners in the firm.

Global Managing Partner of the firm, Peter Bubenzer said: "We hear more and more of an emerging magic circle"of offshore law firms and we are very pleased to see all of these publications rank our firm as one of this elite group."

" We are particularly gratified to see the continued affirmation of the expansion of Appleby following our recognition in 2005 as the Offshore Law Firm of the Year."