Big Law has grown international offices disproportionately despite overseas markets being lower profitability than their U.S. counterparts. The logic presumably is that a global footprint differentiates a firm’s client offerings and leads to a strengthening of the firm’s U.S. practices. However, the data show no evidence of this happening. In fact, there’s evidence the reverse is occurring: the strength of the U.S. practices of many preeminent global firms is losing ground to rivals. This is a critical warning for firms that aspire to grow internationally; it’s also a critical call-to-action for already-global firms: refocus attention on U.S. partners and practices now.
Introduction
