{"id":145376,"date":"2026-03-04T16:08:06","date_gmt":"2026-03-05T00:08:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2026\/03\/04\/we-have-zero-interest-in-practicing-u-s-law-top-uk-firm-opens-office-in-new-york-anyway\/"},"modified":"2026-03-04T16:08:06","modified_gmt":"2026-03-05T00:08:06","slug":"we-have-zero-interest-in-practicing-u-s-law-top-uk-firm-opens-office-in-new-york-anyway","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2026\/03\/04\/we-have-zero-interest-in-practicing-u-s-law-top-uk-firm-opens-office-in-new-york-anyway\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018We Have Zero Interest In Practicing U.S. Law\u2019: Top UK Firm Opens Office In New York Anyway"},"content":{"rendered":"

There are many ways to enter the U.S. legal market. You can merge. You can poach. You can lateral raid your way into Biglaw headlines. Or\u2026 you can open an office in Manhattan and repeatedly clarify that you absolutely, positively do not want to practice U.S. law.<\/p>\n

Enter London-based Macfarlanes \u2014 a firm that brought in $474,686,000 gross revenue in 2024, putting it at No. 18 on the UK 100 ranking and No. 139 on the Global 200 ranking \u2014 which is opening a New York outpost on April 1. (Yes, that\u2019s April Fool\u2019s Day, but the firm swears this is serious.) The office will be located at 667 Madison Avenue and led by former managing partner Julian Howard. It will house a team in the \u201csingle digits,\u201d which in Biglaw expansion terms qualifies as more \u201cfield trip\u201d than British invasion.<\/p>\n

The firm has gone out of its way, repeatedly, to emphasize that this is a \u201crepresentative office.\u201d It will not practice U.S. law. It will not merge. It will not disrupt. It will not steal your lunch. The American Lawyer<\/a> has additional details:<\/p>\n

\n

The firm\u2019s incoming senior partner, Damien Crossley, emphasised that the new office \u2026 is not intended as a step towards competing with its relationship firms, such as Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, or any other firm in its \u201cgood friends\u201d network. \u2026<\/p>\n

Crossley believes the launch will \u201chelp our European clients navigate the U.S.\u201d, adding that the office is not intended as a referral office, but rather will serve firm-originated clients.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Crossley went on to put it quite plainly: \u201cWe have absolutely zero interest in merging. We have absolutely zero interest in practicing U.S. law. We do not need to practise U.S. law to understand what U.S. investors want.\u201d <\/p>\n

So what, exactly, is<\/em> the point?<\/p>\n

The office will house the firm\u2019s investor intelligence team \u2014 part of its \u201cbeyond legal\u201d offering \u2014 with a focus on building up its brand in the U.S., and strengthening relationships with U.S. investors for its European private capital and private wealth clients. \u201cThe worst thing that can happen to a law firm is being seen as irrelevant in a world of global elites,\u201d Crossley said. <\/p>\n

Crossley described Macfarlanes as \u201can evolutionary firm, not a revolutionary firm,\u201d which is a charming way of saying, please don\u2019t panic, nothing dramatic is happening, we\u2019re simply here in Manhattan. To be honest, there\u2019s something refreshingly restrained about the firm\u2019s New York entry. No splashy lateral hires. No bold declarations of \u201cfull-service U.S. capability.\u201d It\u2019s just a small team, a Madison Avenue address, and a quiet insistence that they can understand American investors without becoming American lawyers.<\/p>\n

In a legal market that often equates expansion with conquest, Macfarlanes is attempting something much more subtle: presence without practice. Whether New York views that as strategic sophistication or polite British hedging remains to be seen.<\/p>\n

Macfarlanes Debuts in New York with Private Capital-Focused Office<\/a> [American Lawyer]<\/p>\n

\n
\"\"
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Staci Zaretsky<\/a>\u00a0is the managing editor of Above the Law, where she\u2019s worked since 2011. She\u2019d love to hear from you, so please feel free to\u00a0email<\/a>\u00a0her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on\u00a0Bluesky<\/a>,\u00a0X\/Twitter<\/a>, and\u00a0Threads<\/a>,\u00a0or connect with her on\u00a0LinkedIn<\/a>.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The post \u2018We Have Zero Interest In Practicing U.S. Law\u2019: Top UK Firm Opens Office In New York Anyway<\/a> appeared first on Above the Law<\/a>.<\/p>\n

There are many ways to enter the U.S. legal market. You can merge. You can poach. You can lateral raid your way into Biglaw headlines. Or\u2026 you can open an office in Manhattan and repeatedly clarify that you absolutely, positively do not want to practice U.S. law.<\/p>\n

Enter London-based Macfarlanes \u2014 a firm that brought in $474,686,000 gross revenue in 2024, putting it at No. 18 on the UK 100 ranking and No. 139 on the Global 200 ranking \u2014 which is opening a New York outpost on April 1. (Yes, that\u2019s April Fool\u2019s Day, but the firm swears this is serious.) The office will be located at 667 Madison Avenue and led by former managing partner Julian Howard. It will house a team in the \u201csingle digits,\u201d which in Biglaw expansion terms qualifies as more \u201cfield trip\u201d than British invasion.<\/p>\n

The firm has gone out of its way, repeatedly, to emphasize that this is a \u201crepresentative office.\u201d It will not practice U.S. law. It will not merge. It will not disrupt. It will not steal your lunch. The American Lawyer<\/a> has additional details:<\/p>\n

\n

The firm\u2019s incoming senior partner, Damien Crossley, emphasised that the new office \u2026 is not intended as a step towards competing with its relationship firms, such as Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, or any other firm in its \u201cgood friends\u201d network. \u2026<\/p>\n

Crossley believes the launch will \u201chelp our European clients navigate the U.S.\u201d, adding that the office is not intended as a referral office, but rather will serve firm-originated clients.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Crossley went on to put it quite plainly: \u201cWe have absolutely zero interest in merging. We have absolutely zero interest in practicing U.S. law. We do not need to practise U.S. law to understand what U.S. investors want.\u201d <\/p>\n

So what, exactly, is<\/em> the point?<\/p>\n

The office will house the firm\u2019s investor intelligence team \u2014 part of its \u201cbeyond legal\u201d offering \u2014 with a focus on building up its brand in the U.S., and strengthening relationships with U.S. investors for its European private capital and private wealth clients. \u201cThe worst thing that can happen to a law firm is being seen as irrelevant in a world of global elites,\u201d Crossley said. <\/p>\n

Crossley described Macfarlanes as \u201can evolutionary firm, not a revolutionary firm,\u201d which is a charming way of saying, please don\u2019t panic, nothing dramatic is happening, we\u2019re simply here in Manhattan. To be honest, there\u2019s something refreshingly restrained about the firm\u2019s New York entry. No splashy lateral hires. No bold declarations of \u201cfull-service U.S. capability.\u201d It\u2019s just a small team, a Madison Avenue address, and a quiet insistence that they can understand American investors without becoming American lawyers.<\/p>\n

In a legal market that often equates expansion with conquest, Macfarlanes is attempting something much more subtle: presence without practice. Whether New York views that as strategic sophistication or polite British hedging remains to be seen.<\/p>\n

Macfarlanes Debuts in New York with Private Capital-Focused Office<\/a> [American Lawyer]<\/p>\n

\n
\"\"
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Staci Zaretsky<\/a>\u00a0is the managing editor of Above the Law, where she\u2019s worked since 2011. She\u2019d love to hear from you, so please feel free to\u00a0email<\/a>\u00a0her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on\u00a0Bluesky<\/a>,\u00a0X\/Twitter<\/a>, and\u00a0Threads<\/a>,\u00a0or connect with her on\u00a0LinkedIn<\/a>.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The post \u2018We Have Zero Interest In Practicing U.S. Law\u2019: Top UK Firm Opens Office In New York Anyway<\/a> appeared first on Above the Law<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There are many ways to enter the U.S. legal market. You can merge. You can poach. You can lateral raid your way into Biglaw headlines. Or\u2026 you can open an office in Manhattan and repeatedly clarify that you absolutely, positively do not want to practice U.S. law. Enter London-based Macfarlanes \u2014 a firm that brought […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":145377,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-145376","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-above_the_law"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/xira.com\/p\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Staci-Zaretsky-KOP5yN.jpg?fit=150%2C100&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/145376","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=145376"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/145376\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/145377"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=145376"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=145376"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=145376"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}