Three main periods mark the nearly 50 years that have elapsed since Isachar Fischer founded FBC in 1958.  The first period extends from the firm's inception until the early 1980s, when Avi Fischer, Isachar's son, joined the firm. This period parallels the formative years of the Israeli legal system and economy.  The second period extends from the early 1980s to the late 1990s, when Reuven (Robi) Behar joined the firm as a co-managing partner.  Strategic changes in the firm's areas of expertise and expansion into global markets characterized this second period, which coincided with the increasing sophistication of Israeli law and the growing liberalization of Israel's economy.  The third period, extending from the late 1990s through the present, has been marked by rapid growth in the firm's size as well as in the depth and breadth of its practice, earning it recognition as one of the top law firms in Israel.


The Formative Years

The firm's founder, Isachar Fischer, was born in 1929 in Serbia.  He matured into the chaos of World War II and experienced the atrocities of the Holocaust as a teenager. In 1946, two years before the establishment of the State of Israel, he immigrated to Palestine.  In 1958, after earning a law degree from Tel Aviv University, Isachar Fischer -- then twenty-nine years old -- opened a law office in Tel Aviv, known as I. Fischer & Co.
At that time, the decade - old State of Israel was struggling with an endless state of war with its Arab neighbors and wrestling with an unstable economy.  Though westernized in its basic orientation, the State sought to consolidate, under democratic and liberal values, a heterogeneous society ranging from established groups of dominant political, military and economic leaders to immigrants from around the world.  In that turbulent environment, declining a position as a high ranking military attorney, Isachar Fischer determined to build an independent private law practice that was not connected to a firm that had existed before the establishment of the State of Israel.
The firm was situated in Tel-Aviv - Israel's major economic center - and focused on real estate and "middle market" commercial transactions.  Notwithstanding the socialist color of the Israel's economic life in the State's early years, the firm's roots in private commercial practice and its goal of nurturing individual talent in Israel's nascent free market economy pointed the direction for the growth of its practice in the coming decades.


The Flourishing Years 

Two major events in the late 1970s - the victory of the capitalist-oriented Likud party over the socialist-oriented Labor party and the signing of a peace treaty between Israel and Egypt - marked a turning point in Israel's history.  These two events contributed to an economic boost in Israel that was felt well into the 1980s, encouraged the liberalization of Israel's legal and economic environment and gave rise to a new generation of political and business leaders.  As Israel's judges and lawmakers evolved towards a more substance-based and less formalistic view of the law, Israel's economy moved increasingly towards a free market system.  The advances of the 1980s in Israel were due not only to the liberalization of the Israeli economy, but also to the global economic boom fueled by the computer revolution and the dramatic expansion of information technology. 
This was the atmosphere when Avi Fischer joined the firm in the early 1980s.  As his father had done a generation earlier, he declined a promising military career to take advantage of the new opportunities that were opening in the Israeli and world economies.
Avi Fischer initiated many strategic changes in the firm, including most notably the emphasis on hi-tech as an engine of growth.  Recognizing by the mid-1980s that Israel, lacking natural resources but rich in human talent, could become a hi-tech center, he foresaw that the hi-tech sector would be one of the fastest growing and most influential segment of Israel's economy and would be a key to attracting foreign investment to Israel.  This vision meant that the firm would have to be able to meet international legal standards, possess multilingual capabilities and provide high standards of client care. Native English-speaking attorneys were hired and the firm's practice expanded to complex areas of corporate and capital markets law. By the late 1980s I. Fischer & Co. was one of the few law offices in Israel with an international department capable of supporting the growing hi-tech industry in Israel.
The firm's focus on hi-tech paved the way to its connections with multinational companies and to its involvement in many cross-border transactions. The firm's innovative work was not limited, however, to the international front.  On the domestic side, representing the largest privately owned agriculture company in Israel, the firm fought successfully for the easing of regulatory limitations on agricultural trade and production and for greater equality in land reform.  The seeds of free market values planted in the firm's early days were now bearing fruit.  
The firm expanded rapidly on in the fields of litigation and corporate law.  By 1990 the firm had doubled in size and had moved to a prestigious location formerly occupied by one of Israel's leading law firms.  As the firm's reputation grew, its expertise and market share in hi-tech transactions, corporate counseling and litigation expanded steadily through the 1990s.


The Branding Years

By the late 1990s Israel had completed its trade reform and was forcefully implementing its antitrust legislation.  Attracted largely by Israel's burgeoning hi-tech sector, foreign investment was abundant.  Fields such as broadcasting, communication and aviation were being opened to competition, enabling Israel to profit from the advantages of a free economy.  In addition, during the 1990s Israel enacted two laws protecting basic human rights and freedom of trade, thereby creating the framework of a constitution.  These developments substantially facilitated Israel's participation in worldwide globalization, and also had a profound effect on the practice of law firms in Israel.  Sophisticated, cutting-edge legal work would now be the province only of firms that could meet international standards.  Israeli and foreign clients were choosing their law firms with ever-greater scrutiny, according to achievements, areas of expertise, reputation and size, rather than based on acquaintance or personal connections.  In order to adapt to the increasingly competitive environment, I. Fischer & Co. looked to expand beyond its family-based roots and to broaden and deepen its practice.
During the late 1990s Avi Fischer approached Reuven Behar with a proposition to join him as a co-managing partner of the firm. Reuven Behar was a senior partner in one of Israel's most respected law firms, specializing in commercial litigation, competition law, and intellectual property.  The match between Avi Fischer and Reuven Behar, finalized in January 1999, sparked a new era in the firm's history.
On joining the firm Reuven Behar brought with him not only his legal experience and broad-based clientele, but also high standards for client work and firm organization.  Aiming to combine the firm's traditional strengths with innovative expansion, Avi Fischer and Reuven Behar restructured I. Fischer & Co. in the top tier of Israel's large law firms under a new name: Fischer Behar & Co.  Shortly thereafter, Amir Chen, a well-known real estate lawyer, joined the firm, giving it the name: Fischer Behar Chen & Co. (FBC).

The firm continued to expand rapidly following this restructuring, and prominent attorneys, including Avraham Well, previously general counsel of Clal Insurance, and Dr. Gil Orion, a senior partner at one of Tel Aviv's best-known litigation boutique firms, joined FBC. The firm marked their contribution by changing its name to Fischer Behar Chen Well Orion on January 1, 2006. Since the late 1990s new areas of expertise were established alongside established departments with insistence on the highest standards of professionalism throughout.  The internal growth rate of FBC during the first years of this decade was the highest in Israel and its lawyers are consistently recognized as leaders in their fields.  Indicative of the firm's growth is the increase in the number of interns employed and mentored at FBC - from 5 interns in the late 1990s to 20 in 2005.  These interns are law school graduates with stellar academic records who will become the next generation of Israel's elite lawyers.
With a wide range of active practice areas, including commercial litigation, corporate and capital markets, real estate, technology and venture capital, antitrust, intellectual property, infrastructure and project finance and telecommunications, FBC is a dominant player among Israel's leading law firms.  Recognized among Israel's top ten law firms and enjoying unprecedented growth, FBC looks forward with eager anticipation to writing the next chapter of its history.