Many of the UK’s leading law firms have responded to globalisation by seeking to provide a ‘one-stop shop’, either by opening offices outside the UK or by entering into formal alliances with foreign law firms.
Other firms, however, have chosen to remain independent and have not sought to expand their presence beyond the UK market. That does not restrict them to a solely domestic practice, however. Indeed, the opportunities for the best independent UK law firms to be involved in the largest global transactions remain strong. For example, Macfarlanes, which carries out its entire business in London, recently acted on the disposals by German bank WestLB of the Odeon Cinemas chain and utilities group Mid Kent Water, as well as the £7.4bn offer by French group Pernod Ricard for rival drinks group Allied Domecq.
