To gauge client opinion on vereins, we conducted a survey of in-house counsel across the Fortune 500 and other big private companies last fall. Almost 450 counsel responded. The results revealed just how little this debate has crossed the private practice/in-house divide: three-quarters of clients hadn’t even heard of the term "verein."
After being told what a verein is, the clients were shown a list of the world’s 15 largest international firms by head count and asked whether they thought they were structured as vereins or as partnerships. On average, about two of every three respondees weren’t sure in each case. A higher proportion of clients thought Baker & McKenzie was a traditional partnership than made that assumption about either Clifford Chance or Linklaters. (Only four firms had more than 30 percent of clients correctly identify their structure: Jones Day; Kirkland & Ellis; Latham & Watkins; and Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom.)
