21st century
In 2003, the firm acquired New York City based private equity law firm Reboul, MacMurray, Hewitt & Maynard.[7] In 2005, it acquired NYC-based intellectual property law firm Fish & Neave.[8] Two years later, the firm opened its first international office in Tokyo,[9][10] followed by an office in London, in 2010.[11]
In 2012, the Korean Bar Association approved Ropes & Gray as the first Foreign Legal Consultant Office in Korean history, allowing the firm to open an eleventh office, in Seoul.[12] At the time, Ropes & Gray had 1,100 lawyers and had expanded its presence in Asia with offices in Hong Kong, Shanghai, and in Tokyo.[13]
In 2017, the firm elected Julie Jones as chair, who had been a member of its management committee since 2011. After serving as chair-elect for two years, Jones took the helm in 2020, as the first woman to chair the firm.[14][15] In 2024, as Jones was re-elected to another five-year term, Neill Jakobe was elected to serve a five-year term as vice chair.[16]
In 2023, the firm opened an office in Dublin, Ireland. Later that year, in July, Ropes & Gray announced the relocation of some Shanghai-based lawyers to its Hong Kong operation and the launch of an office in Singapore.[17][18]
In November 2023, amid antisemitic incidents at U.S. law schools,[19][20][21] Ropes & Gray was among a group of law firms that sent a letter to law school deans warning them that an escalation in incidents targeting Jewish students would have corporate hiring consequences. The letter stated: "We look to you to ensure your students who hope to join our firms after graduation are prepared to be an active part of workplace communities that have zero tolerance policies for any form of discrimination or harassment, much less the kind that has been taking place on some law school campuses."[22]
In 2024, the firm, previously 16th, was ranked 24th in the London Stock Exchange Group's global M&A legal advisor rankings, reflecting more than 200 deals valued at $136.8 billion.
In September 2025, Ropes & Gray opened its fourth European office, in Milan,[23] raising its office count to 15, with seven U.S. offices, in Boston, New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., San Francisco, and Palo Alto, and other international offices in Tokyo, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Seoul, Singapore, Dublin, London, and Paris.[24][25]
