Not so long ago, law firms were almost entirely domestically focused. Granted, shipping firms had offices in key shipping locations, and a minority of British practices had offices in Paris and Hong Kong, as well as one or two very small representative offices in other parts of the world. In the main, US firms had small outposts and representative offices in London and a few other locations, while practices such as Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton, Baker & McKenzie, Coudert Brothers, Jones Day and White & Case had a more international spread. But that was about it.
Recently all this has all changed. In 2000, the largest 15 London firms had 184 offices outside the UK; in 2004, this figure has risen to 260. Likewise, leading US firms have been building up their European capability: firms such as Shearman & Sterling, Latham & Watkins and Weil Gotshal & Manges, command about 100 lawyers in London and 10 or more offices outside the US. Leading UK and US firms now tend to dominate Europe’s large transactions markets.
