Latham & Watkins has proven remarkably adept at breaking into ultracompetitive legal markets. In fact, it could make a strong argument for being the most successful entrant into the world’s two most challenging legal business environments, New York and London. This is partly thanks to a well-aligned and well-integrated global strategy, but there is also an element of being in the right place at the right time in the right practice area: high-yield finance.
When the Los Angeles-based firm opened its New York office in 1985, it essentially set up shop purely to service two existing clients in two main practice areas: private equity for buyouts firm KKR & Co., and high-yield debt for the now defunct U.S. investment bank Drexel Burnham Lambert.
