What US clients want, US lawyers deliver. In response to demands for coverage in key international centres, US law firms have continued to expand around the globe. The mantra that London is the stepping stone to Europe is more true than ever and US firms continue to put up their brass plates in the City and West End – as a strategic post in the first instance, perhaps as a gateway to Europe in due course.
However, no matter how superlative their service offerings, nor how robust their corporate reputations, launching into a new legal market is notoriously difficult for US law firms. Of the firms that targeted London in the 1980s and ’90s, many learnt the hard way with transatlantic ventures coming unstuck. While US firms have become more sophisticated and more realistic in their expectations of success in London, some still neglect the key issues before taking the plunge.
