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US LAW FIRMS

Over the last 10 years the presence of US Law Firms in London has increased significantly.   In the early to mid 90's many US Law firms elected to open a small satellite office in London that was primarily a medium for attracting UK & European business.   These offices were often run with a small number of Lawyers or even one Lawyer and an Office Administrator who would be responsible for the day to day administration and running of the office.

As the legal market place has become more competitive, US Law firms have focused on building their businesses in London and in recent years there has been phenomenal growth in a large number of these firms as they attract some of the UK’s brightest Lawyers and support staff and compete for premium Clients alongside International & Medium size Law firms.  

A common misconception about working for a US Law firm is that they offer much higher remuneration packages and demand a significantly higher amount of work than their English counterparts.   This historically comes from the publicity these firms receive when recruiting Lawyers although it is generally accepted that a large number of the support roles within these firms are also remunerated highly competitively in the UK market.  

Working within the finance area of a US Law firm is a challenging and rewarding experience although it is important to understand the cultural differences that affect these roles.  

First and foremost working for a US Law firm in the UK means reporting to a Head Office (commonly referred to as Mother Office) in the United States .   This in itself has its own implications in terms of lines of communication, decision making and overall responsibility.   A common frustration of professionals that work within a US Law firm is the issue over reporting into a Mother office and the lack of autonomy with decision making locally.   The Mother office is extremely influential in the strategic decision making for the London and European offices unless the office in question has grown to a point where it is considered its own entity, as is the case with only a few London offices of US Law firms.  

Location of the Mother office in the United States can often dictate interesting cultural differences within the London office.   It is recognised that those firms with Mother offices on the East coast such as New York are generally more aggressive culturally that those with a Mother office on the West coast such as Los Angeles or San Francisco where the culture can be more laid back.   Most US Law firms offer excellent working conditions for an employee.  

As with all types of Law firm there are subtle differences within the roles available depending on the size of the firm as a whole and in these cases the size of the London office.   The roles available within a US Law firm differ from those within UK Law firms in the categories described above.    

At conception of a satellite office the responsibility for finance is often incorporated within the role of the Office Administrator/Manager.   As the satellite office grows so does the level of demand on the finance area and the initial recruit if often a Financial Co-ordinator/Manager who has experience at all levels within legal accounting and cashiering.   It is not uncommon for these satellite offices to have minimum transactions through Client Account initially and even longer term.   The finance management is more similar to that of a small niche firm than that of a large International or Medium size firm, although there is often more focus on international issues, foreign currency payments and reporting to the Mother office.  

Gradually as these satellite offices grow they introduce Accounts Payable, Billing and Finance Assistants and eventually as the office gains a greater degree of responsibility additional senior finance members are recruited.    

US Law firms often have a number of global and European offices which enables finance team members to gain exposure to a wide variety of challenging work which they may not gain exposure to in a UK firm.   Knowledge of Solicitors Accounts Rules is fundamentally important in this environment at all levels.  

Examples include:  

Hogan & Hartson (Washington Mother office)
Latham & Watkins (Los Angeles Mother office)
White & Case (New York Mother office)
Weil Gotshal & Manges (New York Mother office)
 

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