White & Case's European practice continues to be one of the most distinctive and promising teams yet put together by a US-based firm. A confident showing from the firm's finance team has helped to drive forward UK revenues by 38% in 2006 to hit $172m. The London office has also increased its fee earners from 64 to nearly 350 in the UK.

The debt practice, which boasts respected operators such as Maurice Allen, Mike Goetz, Chris Kandel and Rachel Hatfield, has been building up its client base and the quality of its instructions over the last two years. Its biggest clients over the first half of this year have been Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs and BNP Paribas. Last year it also won its first appointment to the Royal Bank of Scotland panel and it is also improving links with Barclays and Merrill Lynch.

Building on its high yield and emerging markets work, the office now has one of the largest acquisition finance teams in the City, with nearly 80 lawyers. Its transactions over the last six months have included advising Deutsche in relation to the £2.2bn acquisition of Actives and the joint acquisition of EuropCar, as well as advising BNP Paribas on its financing of Bridgepoint's bid for Fat Face.

But what about corporate?

What the firm has in its sights now is building up its corporate practice in Europe. The firm argues that its development in corporate, where it has recruited corporate partner Philip Broke from Ashurst and Clifford Chance funds specialist Matthew Judd over the last 12 months, has not yet received due recognition.

Perhaps that is thanks to the pan-European flavour of its headline work. Major deals include advising telecoms firm Weather Investments on its £2.3bn acquisition of Greek mobile operator TIM Hellas, advising Allianz Capital Partners on its £772.5m buy-out of vending company Selecta and, more recently, acting for BAA on the £1.3bn sale of its stake in Budapest Airport.

The firm – which is, by all accounts, currently in overdrive in London – has evidently clocked up some respectable mandates but much of its work is either too far afield or too small to really register on the City radar.

One lawyer who knows the firm well believes the challenge it will face with its UK ambitions will actually be keeping up with its expanding European network – oh, and keeping up with the constant internal debates about management.

That the City practice has not been blown entirely off course by its unsettled leadership is seen as a testament to its energetic and talented line-up. As an ex-partner comments: "They are having an absolutely fantastic time right now. It is unusual to have that number of partners in the same place with that amount of drive and determination."

But while energy and drive will get the firm so far, White & Case has a perception problem that will not be easily overcome. With a New York brand that does not carry that much weight in the City, it will struggle to attract talent seduced by more 'prestigious' Wall Street rivals. And, despite going out of its way to avoid a long-hours culture, some of its potential recruits will probably still tar it with the same US brush and go to a UK firm.