London,
Paris,
Istanbul…
Milton Keynes. This is the extent of Denton Wilde Sapte’s current network of offices in
Western Europe. It makes for an unusual geographic spread. But this somewhat uneven, if not downright quirky European network is not atypical of those on offer at many of
London’s large band of mid-market firms.
An outsider might be forgiven for wondering what strategic imperative prompts Berwin Leighton Paisner to operate a one-partner Paris branch. And why does the alliance that Pinsent Masons has with its German partner Luther have a presence in France, Germany and Latvia, but nothing in Spain, Italy and the Netherlands? At Nabarro, clients are offered a “seamless” European service by three different arrangements: a homegrown office in Brussels, “strategic alliances” in France and Germany and a network of best friends everywhere else. Lawrence Graham, on the other hand, relies on “strong working relationships” around the world.
Of course, until the start of last year Lawrence Graham operated its own alliance of European firms, LG International. Then, in a U-turn typical of the strategic about-faces that have peppered the unsteady expansion of UK firms into Europe, it decided that all the effort involved in running the alliance wasn’t worth it.
This week Field Fisher Waterhouse’s European Legal Alliance met a similar fate. But instead of stepping back from its European adventure, Field Fisher has plunged further into the melee. The result? A small office in Hamburg, an even smaller one in Brussels, the possibility of a full merger in Paris and a strategic alliance in Spain, with the prospect of another in Italy. It is a bold move for a firm of Field Fisher’s size, but it hardly strikes a blow for clarity.
The truth is that the march of the UK’s mid-market firms into Europe has been haphazard and pragmatic as they wrestle with the challenge of matching their international ambitions with the size of their wallets and the availability of lawyers. At one end of the spectrum you have Bird & Bird, which has been obdurately ploughing its own international furrow for many years. At the other you have Addleshaw Goddard, whose website is refreshingly quiet about the seamless service the firm no doubt offers to those of its clients of a European bent. In the middle, a host of firms offer a bewildering array of arrangements and coverage capable, as the Field Fisher experience testifies, of changing at any time. Spare a thought not for the clients, who no doubt keep the marketing claims emanating from these firms in perspective, but those European firms attempting to do business with their capricious UK counterparts.
john.malpas@legalweek.com
