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September 25, 2007

London law merger market: so what's the problem, U.S. firms?

And will you know what to do once you get there? London-based Legal Week, armed with a survey, reports that "US firms target UK mergers as battle for London hots up". WAC? still sees London-U.S. law merger market "movement" as slow and reluctant because it takes cautionary lessons, for example, from some unprofitable and often ill-conceived attempts by U.S. firms to become players in Russia twenty years ago and China a decade later. Now, for once, lawyer risk-aversion is an asset. But The London legal market? Yes, London's off-the-chart expensive these days. But as stable as you'd want. Entering it poses cultural issues and barriers even sophisticated Yanks don't pick up on with any clarity for months

and usually years--Brits are different, folks--and most large American firms don't even know what those problems really are. But they sense them.

That's smart, sort of. We at WAC? have been involved personally and professionally with law firm mergers: all dressed up, and nothing to do, is certainly something to avoid.

Let's assume American firms know strategically how to enter London and all the more inviting UK/Europe legal marketplaces and have the resources to do it. So what's the problem? My answer: U.S. firms know they aren't culturally saavy and secure enough to go into the UK/Europe, and they are right to think that way. Note, via a hand-off from the vigilant Ed. at Blawg Review, a post which not only got us thinking about this but reflects the somewhat different sentiments of HMPC's overworked co-founder and international tax diva Julie McGuire two weeks ago at a meeting I attended in Pennsylvania. However, its author, Bruce MacEwen, said it first and, as usual, likely better than anyone else could have: "London Calling: But Who's Ready to Dance?".

Posted by JD Hull at 11:58 PM | Comments (0)

California: "My vibe guy is E.F. Hutton, and he says..."

WAC?, still north of Los Angeles, called last night to report that he may have to move back East sooner and not later. "Guess I'm not a California guy", he concluded. Apparently, his ears had perked up in a restaurant when a stunning and articulate professional woman spoke glowingly of her "energy advisor". He inquired, and it turns out she was not talking about: fossil-fuel consultants, brokers specializing in utility stocks, or promoters of deals to sell shares in peat farms.

Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 12:00 AM | Comments (0)