Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer is on a roll, hiring two lateral groups of star partners in premium corporate and tech practices in the United States, all while turning heads with its approach to the world’s most profitable legal market.

The U.K. firm has tweaked its compensation model and expanded to U.S. markets where its international clients need help, key elements of a strategy that observers say looks promising but still needs to be battle-tested, given the history of British firms’ stateside expansion efforts fizzling.