So much for the humbling of the City. Our annual Global London special finds that the number of lawyers employed at the top 50 foreign firms in the Square Mile has finally and comfortably broken its 2008 high, with over 4,500 lawyers working across the group after a 6% hike in numbers.
And in the post-Lehman world, London is now less about grand schemes and expensive investment – these offices are often profitable in their own right. The top ten largest City offices of US-bred parents collectively generated over £1bn in fees last year and have made 34 lateral hires since last February.Furthermore, in a striking number of cases, major US firms have seen faster growth during 2013 at their London practices than in the US, notable at firms including Shearman & Sterling, Latham & Watkins, Dechert, White & Case and Weil, Gotshal & Manges.
