Softly, softly Sullivan raises old questions for Slaughters with Emmerson hire
Nobody can accuse Sullivan & Cromwell of rushing headlong into the UK corporate market. Indeed, the phrase 'softly, softly' could have been invented…
January 03, 2007 at 07:03 PM
2 minute read
Nobody can accuse Sullivan & Cromwell of rushing headlong into the UK corporate market. Indeed, the phrase 'softly, softly' could have been invented to describe the way the firm has gone about building a UK-law presence in London.
It has been circling the City market for as long as Legal Week has been in existence. The front page of our inaugural issue, in January 1999, reported on Sullivan's first foray into UK law with the hire of Norton Rose project finance partner Jamie Logie.
That was seven years ago. Next month the London office will welcome its fifth English law-qualified partner through its doors in the shape of Tim Emmerson, who is jumping ship from Milbank Tweed Hadley & McCloy.
Far more significant than the number of UK partners the firm now boasts is the fact that it is finally launching a fully-fledged corporate practice. Initial reactions from the City's tight-knit M&A community suggest the move makes sense, especially given Emmerson's links with Goldman Sachs.
But there will also be quiet satisfaction that Sullivan has not succeeded in prying a big name away from the magic circle, having spent at least two years plotting its UK corporate launch. And, of course, the move is double-edged for US firms in London generally, given the fact that Sullivan's gain is Milbank's loss – raising as it does inevitable questions about Milbank's ability to sustain its recent eye-catching efforts to ramp up its presence in Europe.
It is normal on such occasions to question the impact of such hires on Slaughter and May, given that Sullivan is supposedly one of Slaughters' 'best friends'. Well, Slaughters has certainly had plenty of time to get used to the incursions of Sullivan, Simpson Thacher & Bartlett and Davis Polk & Wardwell into UK law. It nevertheless remains an uncomfortable truth that Slaughters is powerless to prevent such forays into its home territory.
It is also worth bearing in mind that Sullivan is intent on replicating the success it has already achieved in Paris – a consideration that makes Slaughters' approach look just a tad parochial when compared with its supposedly ultra-conservative US counterparts.
This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.
To view this content, please continue to their sites.
Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
NOT FOR REPRINT
© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
You Might Like
View AllLatham's magic circle strikes, pay rises and EY's legal takeover: the best of Legal Week over the last few weeks
3 minute readJob losses, soaring partner profits and Freshfields exits - the best of Legal Week over the past two weeks
3 minute readMagic circle PEP hikes, the associate pay conundrum and more #MeToo - the best of Legal Week last week
3 minute readTrending Stories
- 1The Law Firm Disrupted: Playing the Talent Game to Win
- 2A&O Shearman Adopts 3-Level Lockstep Pay Model Amid Shift to All-Equity Partnership
- 3Preparing Your Law Firm for 2025: Smart Ways to Embrace AI & Other Technologies
- 4BD Settles Thousands of Bard Hernia Mesh Lawsuits
- 5A RICO Surge Is Underway: Here's How the Allstate Push Might Play Out
Featured Firms
Law Offices of Gary Martin Hays & Associates, P.C.
(470) 294-1674
Law Offices of Mark E. Salomone
(857) 444-6468
Smith & Hassler
(713) 739-1250