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Away from the city’s law group, about 200 commercial lawyers are working in the former Twitter office in Soho, by a branch of Whole Foods. Here is the Paul, Weiss, Rifkind and Wharton & Garrison office, until recently, soon from a law firm in New York.

“We are practicing in New York City,” announced Judge Simon Revocking, legendary litigation partner, in 1963 in the company’s principles statement. This suddenly changed in late 2023 when Paul Weiss expanded to become English law, as stars partners from other law firms in London, especially its largest rival in the United States, Kercland and Eileis.

No success came from Neil Sashdiv, a British debt financing specialist for private stock companies (“My work is L in LBO”). Sashdif, with his long hair and decorated vessels, has a legal wolf atmosphere, albeit friendly. He and his head of the participant Roger Johnson, who too join From Kurchland, I built credible works at a great speed.

Paul Weiss made great temptations to recruits who can bring profitable works in London. The company’s profit for each partner in the stock in 2023 was $ 6.5 million, and Sashdif’s competitors are said to be on a double numbers salary package, with others offered high rewards (will not hang). “They threw a rock in the pond and ripples spread,” says one of the UK lawyer.

But Paul Weiss maneuver had a wider effect than Brease the legal wage In London. Besides American companies including Latham & Watkins and Kirkland, they have put a long -term bet on permanent importance and the global financial role of English commercial law. Although Britain’s exit from the European Union has launched some city’s hegemony in banking services, the law on financing was prosperous.

American companies have invested in London more than other European cities. “You need to work with public and private capital in New York and London. Everything is gradually,” says an American lawyer. Paul Weiss opened the Brussels office and rented Nicole Car, a partner in Linklates to combat monopoly, but London is its main axis.

The appetite of the city’s largest centers of American law in New York reflects the globalization of financing. The Management Office in London is located in Apollo Global Management near the Paul Weiss in Soho, one of the largest clients of the latter. Special stock funds highlight many deals under English law in addition to the jurisdiction of the American states and want New York companies to have a similar access.

“Over time, it does not mean that you are not in London, which means cutting yourself from a large part of the business of companies and private,” says Sashdiv. For example, bankruptcy or bankruptcy can be restructured under Chapter 11 or an English language plan, and companies should be called “AmbideXTrous”. The New York tradition of transferring work in English law fades into the “Best Friend” partnership in the UK.

But the American expansion raises two questions. One is the effect on wages and the effect of exit on legal bills. The legal industry appears to create its payment bub. . . “I hear a lot of frustration from companies’ clients about what is happening,” says Julian Taylor, a great partner in Simons and Simons. Private stock companies may tolerate wages, but others resent it.

The second question is whether it will continue. Paul Weiss expanded in about 15 months in London from a small office to about 40 partners and a total of 210 lawyers covering areas including integration, acquisition and intellectual property. Its partners in New York have invested extensively to overcome the local market and want to restore this expensive employment.

This turns into whether American companies bring more legal work to London or take a larger segment of the same revenue pie. “These appointments do not create a larger market. One of the American lawyers says:” They are only moving to business, “SACHDEV believes that the market can expand and say Paul Weiss’s maneuver is already working:” This office has been accumulating financially to the company in one year. “

The final test is whether the American company is not only growing, but also creates a stable culture in London. This requires this to combine a lot of vanity and promotion from the inside instead of being an expensive employment machine. SACHDEV says that he has now reached the critical mass and “is an introduction to our success is the number of partners we can promote on an organic basis on an annual basis.”

So far, it has created a greater disturbance of growth in the legal industry in London as a whole. But even this is welcome, both for the precedence of English law or the commitment of the city – and Soho.

john.gapper@ft.com