Many partners at the elite New York firms are dismissive of the U.S. capabilities of their U.K peers. But have the U.S-based firms done any better in crossing the Atlantic? In terms of overall impact, it’s fair to say that U.S. law firms are a far more significant part of the U.K. market than the English firms are in America. While only a handful of U.K. firms have ventured stateside, the 350 largest U.S. law firms by head count collectively employ more than 6,000 attorneys in 92 U.K. offices, according to The National Law Journal’s 2013 NLJ 350 survey.
The U.S. firms have also earned bragging rights when it comes to lateral hires. The higher relative profits per equity partner of many U.S. firms, which has been exacerbated by the strengthening of the dollar against the pound over the past five years, means they’ve had more success in attracting and retaining top talent.
