‘A year ago, the penny was beginning to drop about the significant challenges of the pandemic. The strength and diversity of our practices and people have helped us as we navigated through with our clients.’ Oliver Brettle, White & Case
To mark the launch of our 2021 Global London report, we asked senior figures at leading US firms for their thoughts
No bailout
‘This year was definitely going to be a downturn but you have to put this into context. We are extremely well paid and you have to take the hit yourself and not expect the government to bail your people out. Any decent-sized firm shouldn’t have had to do that.’
Jason Glover, London managing partner, Simpson Thacher & Bartlett
Taking care of business
‘The wellbeing of staff, the lawyers and everybody, is very important. Trainees learn so much from observing, hearing people on the phone and interacting in the office. We are trying to get them involved in everything as much as possible. We’ve allocated buddies for trainees and this is highest thing on my worry list.’
Sally Davies, London managing partner, Mayer Brown
Real face time
‘We will have a lot of issues to figure out in the new normal. Many people feel they have been successful working from home but the watercooler chat is missing. With Zoom, you don’t get the before-meeting personal connection and the after-meeting wrap up. They are critical for associate development.’
Barbara Becker, chair and managing partner-elect, Gibson Dunn
Strong set-up
‘A year ago, the penny was beginning to drop about the significant challenges of the pandemic, starting in China. The strength and diversity of our practices and people have helped us as we navigated through with our clients. There has been a continued promotion of women in the partnership and that is very important to the future of our global strategy.’
Oliver Brettle, executive committee member, White & Case
All the right places
‘In London and Europe, activity has increased dramatically since the beginning of Q4 last year. I don’t remember it being as busy as it was at the start of this year since we opened in 2015. That looks like it’s going to continue for the foreseeable future. Being positioned in life sciences, high-growth companies, tech companies, is helpful. Those industries have got a huge amount of growth and activity for the future.’
Justin Stock, London managing partner, Cooley
The right stuff
‘The onus is on boards and companies to think about how they run their businesses and treat everyone. ESG is an increasing focus. The businesses may want to be looked over by a firm like ours to ensure that all the boxes are being ticked for the best way of working.’
Dorothy Cory-Wright, member of the London management committee, Dechert
Culture clash
‘There’s not one blueprint for a US firm in London. In fact, it’s hard for us to even say where we are headquartered. Describing us as a US firm and putting us in the same bracket as some of the New York-bred firms is very strange. Over 180 years of history, there’s a culture difference.’
Mark Rowley, London, Dubai, and Riyadh head, Baker Botts
The greater good
‘Our life sciences work set us apart during the pandemic – we advised on the deal between Pfizer and BioNTech to produce a Covid-19 vaccine. Professionally, it is exciting and rewarding to feel in some small way we have been able to help our clients and the wider world navigate the challenges of Covid-19. It’s once-in-a-lifetime work.’
Lisa Peets, head of the London technology regulatory and policy practice, Covington
All inclusive
‘We have had to make sure supervisors were engaged with the trainees. It is quite easy for people to feel left out or lost in this environment. It’s ensuring that they don’t. We’ve had some successes in social mobility. We did an amazing virtual open day for students from diverse backgrounds. It worked well and they loved it.’
Arun Birla, London chair, Paul Hastings
In the balance
‘Up to now we have not noticed any impact on London’s position as a global financial hub following Brexit, perhaps due to the Covid-19 effect. In the medium to long term, any impact, most probably negative, will depend on the decisions to be taken by the relevant financial and legal players about their presence in London.’
Ignacio Corbera Dale, partner-in-charge – London, Garrigues