When Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer hired Ethan Klingsberg in October, it underscored what one partner at a rival firm called “Freshfields’ mission to finally conquer the U.S.”. 

The four-partner, Klingsberg-led team from Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton was the “rocket fuel” the firm needed to ascend New York’s upper echelons, its proclamation that “it isn’t going to go the way of other U.K. firms in New York - it’s going to be a major success”, a Freshfields London partner put it.