To mark the launch of our 2019 Global London report, we ask senior management at the leading US firms in London for a progress update
Brexitproof
‘Milbank does not just have stellar transactional practices: a very significant component of the London office are countercyclical businesses such as restructuring and litigation. They are among the strongest performers. At some point the economy may deteriorate, but we have positioned ourselves to thrive in good and bad conditions.’
Julian Stait, London co-managing partner, Milbank
Well hedged
‘Transactional markets were very strong last year. It’s interesting looking back. I was very concerned immediately after the Brexit referendum in June 2016 about where the markets were going. But 2017 and 2018 were extremely busy years. It’s very hard to predict what happens next, especially with the current state of the negotiations, but we have a well-hedged global business, and with our focus on our core industry groups and practice areas, we have a really well-balanced business.’
Andrew Jenkinson, London managing partner, Reed Smith
More to come
‘It was a busy year. There was so much work that the partner hiring went a bit slower than I probably would have liked. The best area for us in London in 2018 was capital markets. Incredibly busy. I expect that to continue; I expect 2019 to be an incredibly busy year for capital markets in London. The emerging company venture space was also fantastic. There will be further growth in that area – we have only just scratched the surface.’
Justin Stock, London managing partner, Cooley
No deal
‘Brexit is obviously going to be a challenge, but also an opportunity. In terms of our practice areas, we are relatively confident that our firm will manage to go through it unscarred. We don’t have any of those practice areas – such as UK domestic real estate – that people are most worried about being adversely affected. There will be challenges, but also opportunities to help our clients.’
Mark Rowley, partner in charge of London, Baker Botts
Stigma-free
‘We have seen a lot more of the elite US firms have senior leaders based in London. It speaks of their appetite for growth in London. The fact that I was elected [global] managing partner in the first contested elections the firm has had in 15 years says a lot about our confidence in this market. In London there is no stigma among associates, partners and clients against US firms anymore.’
Ronan O’Sullivan, managing partner, Paul Hastings
Making headway
‘Magic Circle firms continue to drive the agenda here – given the scale of their presence, that’s inevitable – but US firms are clearly disruptors, partly as a result of recruiting the best talent in the market. For example, we advised on the tax aspects of Coca-Cola’s £3.9bn acquisition of Costa Coffee, despite teams from Slaughter and May, Cravath, Swaine & Moore and Clifford Chance running other aspects of the deal.’
Pranav Trivedi, London head, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom
Staying focused
‘We are focusing on the right things. Even with all of the investments we made last year we have still managed to increase revenue. We are hoping to see the investments pay off in the near and long term. We are certainly looking at opportunities to hire more people to help us achieve our strategy. We are laser-focused on our 2020 strategy and hiring in line with that.’
Melissa Butler, London executive partner, White & Case
No worries
‘Clearly everyone is worried about Brexit, but if you look at the geographies of our clients, we are less impacted than some of the competition. We already act on plenty of deals which are European but not necessarily EU. We are not quaking at the prospect of Brexit. In spite of the headwind, we are expecting activity levels to be good.’
Alexander Msimang, London managing partner, Vinson & Elkins
Power alley
‘There is a lot of growth potential in London. It is one of the key areas we want to grow out, but in a sustainable, profitable way. We want to build a litigation and corporate base.
‘Ira Coleman [McDermott chair] calls them “power alleys”, which means areas of focus, but we are open to other opportunities as well. Growth so far has been organic, with the odd lateral partner from time to time. We are also looking at bigger transactions.’
Hamid Yunis, London managing partner, McDermott, Will & Emery
Promotions key
‘We promoted three partners in London last year. We have such good associates that hopefully we can achieve this rate of promotions year on year. We have always had good people, it’s just that now we have more of them!’
Mike Francies, London managing partner, Weil, Gotshal & Manges