In this month’s Global London special we track the fortunes of the leading international advisers in the City. But are foreign players making progress?
BIG PICTURE
‘The London office is part of our integrated global firm and there is no “us” and “them” culture. There is only a “we” culture. The difference between an international firm and a global one is that US international firms use satellite offices to service US-originated deals. As a global firm we understand the need to be flexible and understand the nuances of the markets we’re operating in.’
Nick Buckworth, managing partner for Europe, Middle East and Africa, Shearman & Sterling
GOOD OPPORTUNITIES
‘2013 looks to be another strong year and we are expecting to do more significant M&A. We’ve got great FTSE 100 clients doing deals and there are a lot of deals going around at the moment.’
Paul Maher, chairman, Greenberg Traurig Maher
BOXED IN
‘We will see more international expansion in the legal market. Major clients still tend to be money centre-centric in terms of headquarters, so a strong presence in places such as London is important, but are typically looking to grow in high-growth markets in Asia, Africa, Latin America and elsewhere.’
Gary Senior, London managing partner, Baker & McKenzie
POPULARITY CONTEST
‘People were talking about London giving up its status as a prestigious market, but it hasn’t. It remains important alongside New York.’
Andrew Shutter, partner, Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton
LATERAL THINKING
‘Lateral hires do have their place in the legal world but you can’t just have an office of superstar rainmakers, you need a bench depth of really good lawyers. Laterals can be used in a strategic way.’
James Roome, London managing partner, Bingham McCutchen
LEARNING LESSONS
‘We face the same challenges everybody does. Clients are feeling pressure to save costs so we feel pressures in terms of fees and competition. We have to be smarter in the way we approach our client service, providing clients the best value for money – we need to learn lessons – it’s about putting clients’ needs first.’
Mike Francies, London managing partner, Weil, Gotshal & Manges
CHANGING PRIORITIES
‘To have maximum appeal to our clients, our lawyers have to bring the entire firm’s strength to each client engagement. White & Case is increasing cross-border work. We need to take advantage of clients who are looking to use the global resources a firm like ours has. This doesn’t mean neglecting domestic work but it does mean focus on appealing to clients who have substantial cross-border matters going on. This is our priority.’
Oliver Brettle, London executive partner, White & Case
DIVERSE SOLUTIONS
‘It has been a good year. We found that our diversity has helped us. [The firm is] not unduly focused on one particular sector, although we’ve had significant success in one or two sectors. We have had a lot of senior hires join
the firm, seven lateral partners last year.’
Roger Parker, managing partner for Europe, Middle East and Asia, Reed Smith
KEEPING CONTROL
‘Our London office benefits from two things: we are relatively small in size and we do a range of things. For instance, when equity capital markets work declined last year, debt capital markets work took off, as did restructuring. We cover a huge part of the legal landscape from a relatively small office.’
Paul Kumleben, partner, Davis Polk & Wardwell
CAUTIOUS OPTIMISM
‘It’s too early to make predictions about 2013 but so far so good. I’m really excited about what we have in London.’
Nick Cline, London managing partner, Latham & Watkins
WAITING GAME
‘The macro-economic conditions are difficult. We are all waiting for the economy to grow. But I am happy that in London we were able to do well in economic uncertainty.’
Tom Dollinger, London head, Proskauer Rose
STRONG GLUE
‘During the last 12 months, we’ve been steady. We haven’t engaged in merger talks and we haven’t hired any groups of partners. Looking around the market, there has been
a growth culture. Financial success and culture are really
the only two things that hold law firms together.’
Tom Budd, London co-head, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher