In a downturn, business people like to point out, some truths are laid bare. "You only find out who is swimming naked when the tide goes out," Warren Buffett famously told investors in a 2002 letter. Which is why, after the 2000 dotcom crash, it was the City's elite that were found to be revealing a little too much skin.This time, it is different. After madly shedding partners, doubling-down their bets on foreign offices and tightening their management controls, the big four magic circle firms - Allen & Overy (A&O), Clifford Chance (CC), Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Linklaters - look a little better-dressed than many of their rivals in the US. The irony is that the English law firms have succeeded by following the lesson of their American peers: they have hedged their bets. For US law firms, in the past that has meant a healthy dose of litigation and bankruptcy work to balance a corporate shortfall. For UK law firms, the strategy has been geographic: spreading their risk across several continents.
October 15, 2008 at 10:31 PM
1 minute read
The original version of this story was published on Legalweek
The dotcom crash favoured the US members of the Global 100 over UK rivals. But, finds Richard Lloyd, the roles look now to be reversed
In a downturn, business people like to point out, some truths are laid bare. “You only find out who is swimming naked when the tide goes out,” Warren Buffett famously told investors in a 2002 letter. Which is why, after the 2000 dotcom crash, it was the City’s elite that were found to be revealing a little too much skin.
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