London headcount: 116 lawyers, 42 partners
Lawyer headcount change since 2016: +147%
London managing partner: Fiona Adams, co-chair of the global corporate practice
Office specialities: M&A, real estate, investment funds, litigation, finance
Representative matters:
- APi Group on its $3.1bn acquisition of Chubb’s fire and safety solutions business.
- Westbrook Partners on its £485m disposal of two logistics portfolios to Blackstone.
- Europa Capital on its €2bn Europa Diversified Income Fund.
- JSC BTA Bank in the recovery of assets as part of the multibillion-dollar fraud by Mukhtar Ablyazov and associates.
- Nomad Foods on the refinancing of €553.2m in senior secured term loans and issuance of €750m senior secured notes due 2028.
Greenberg Traurig’s London office opened in 2009 to such fanfare that it warranted corporate partner Paul Maher (pictured) – who joined from Mayer Brown to found the outpost — being name checked in its City branding.
The office has not been called Greenberg Traurig Maher since 2016 when Maher conceded the honour in exchange for an elevation to global vice chair, as the firm moved to unify its identity internationally. The overhaul importantly came soon after the firm’s failure to strike a merger with London’s Berwin Leighton Paisner levelled a sizeable blow to Greenberg’s transatlantic ambitions.
Reversals notwithstanding, Greenberg has made some inroads in the ultra-competitive deals market and, more recently, has redoubled efforts to invest in its City bench.
The office has galvanised its position in disputes with eight lateral partners in the last two years. Growth has come largely at the expense of Mishcon de Reya, first in the 2020 additions of Masoud Zabeti and Mohammed Khamisa QC. Latterly in 2021, a pre-IPO Mishcon continued to haemorrhage partners while Greenberg’s contentious practice benefited from a six-partner exodus.
Influential partners Kathryn Garbett, Jo Rickards, Claire Broadbelt, Annabel Thomas, Martin Shobbrook and Hannah Blom-Cooper joined as shareholders, Greenberg’s partner equivalent, while Matt Hancock joined as a shareholder having been a legal director at Mishcon. Last September, John Houghton, former restructuring co-chair at Latham & Watkins, also joined as chair of Greenberg’s London restructuring and bankruptcy practice.
Says Richard Rosenbaum, Greenberg’s executive chair: ‘The war, the sanctions and other factors are going to have an impact on energy prices, this is going to reverberate across all kinds of industries, resulting in more disputes. A lot of our planning came before this of course, but the impact is only going to accelerate the trends that we were already preparing for and saw happening anyway.’
Timely as the hires may be, Rosenbaum insists that this was always part of the plan to future proof in London: ‘Litigation, bankruptcy, and restructuring were always going to be important to balance the large transactional practices and at this point one-third of the office is devoted to disputes. This has been done, not only because we see this will benefit us now, but as we look ahead, we have always anticipated inflation and possible recession.’
Having grown headcount 30% in 2021 alone, Greenberg’s 147% London headcount growth since 2016 is only surpassed by one transatlantic peer – Goodwin, which has seen 179% headcount growth on a five-year track.
Post the failed merger, growth has been reliant on lateral and team acquisitions. The firm notoriously capitalised on the collapse of King & Wood Mallesons’ European arm in 2017 as six partners jumped ship. More recently, the firm last June lured entertainment lawyer Neil Miller from Facebook and promoted two partners internally.
Despite the audacious hiring spree, Greenberg’s strategy of sustainability and a diversified client roster makes for an understated deal list when compared to consistently heavy hitting peers. ‘We act for a larger range of clients than other big American firms, not only do we do mega deals, but we delve into the middle- and upper-middle-market deals,’ notes Rosenbaum.
Eight consecutive years of record global revenue suggest its strategy is paying off. In 2021/22, the firm reported turnover of $2bn, a 16% increase on the previous year. The firm is tight-lipped about its London revenue, citing its 18-office platform as ‘one global family’.
In Europe, inroads have been made in Amsterdam, Berlin, Warsaw and Milan. Decisions to eschew the larger financial centres of Frankfurt and Paris were driven respectively by a lack of banking clients and lessons learned from US peers’ historic woes in those cities. Rosenbaum says of Paris: ‘Could the day come when we do something there? It’s not impossible, but we have not found the right opportunity yet.’
Indeed, the firm is not one for rash decisions. Its Milan office – another traditionally tricky market for US firms to crack – was 14 years in the making following a long-term alliance with a small family firm, Studio Santa Maria.
Rosenbaum says: ‘It is a distinguishing feature in London for an American firm to have a network like ours in Europe. But for this to work it all needs to be truly excellent, that takes time. It has taken us a long time to get to this point and therefore we have a good culture and good retention.’
The firm’s priority is to build on its existing London practice, with a focus on private equity, as well as regulatory lawyers to support its newly formed financial disputes team. ‘Otherwise, we have all the pillars in place and the foundations in the ground and we will continue to grow from the really great lawyers that we’ve assembled, knowing that we are now balanced in a way that makes it a sustainable model, no matter what the cycle,’ concludes Rosenbaum.