For all the global firms’ talk of the end of the ‘flags on maps’ school of international expansion, a lot of time and money is being spent on investment outside their home markets. Wall Street is occupying the attentions of London’s elite, substantial investment in China is now mandatory and then there is the lure of buoyant emerging markets such as Dubai. Which surely means a domestic Belgian practice starts to slip down the list of priorities.
Still, all of London’s magic circle, save Slaughter and May, maintain significant local practices in Brussels – despite the country generating some of the lowest fees in western Europe.
