What's Good for Paul Weiss Is Good for London - But, What's Good for Paul Weiss?

  A recent article in Financial Times about Paul Weiss essentially circles back to the once-popular meme about GM - What is good for GM is good for the country. (The source for that has been debated.)

The FT coverage highlights how the law firm's aggressive push in the London market is enhancing the location's reputation for being key in the local, regional and global legal sector. So, what's good for Paul Weiss is good for London. 

Well-known is that Paul Weiss hired star Neel Sachdev, conducted raids on Kirkland & Ellis talent and most recently hired Kai Zeng from Blantyre Capital. The goal is to operate a 200-lawyer office.

Meanwhile, watchers of Paul Weiss ponder if the rapid building of its presence in the London market is good for Paul Weiss. Ever since chair Brad Karp recently reset the firm for intensified competition it's become a fave to monitor and then speculate about. Professional anonymous networks Reddit Big Law and Fishbowl Big Law had been obsessed with that for several months.

LawFuel focuses on the specific question of housing all those star players under one roof in the London office. Can operations proceed effectively, as had the Eagles functioned as one seamless winning machine during the Super Bowl?  

It should be noted that already in its domestic locations, Paul Weiss has created the black box policy of keeping compensation secret. That's a tactic used to help prevent tensions from escalating when there is a wide spread in Profits Per Equity Partner. What kinds of spread exists in the London office?

Another concern is the usual in risk-taking: Will this investment pay off? For instance, can the star hires produce the expected ROI? Paul Weiss has been predisposed to taking risks ever since Karp became chair in 2008. That's when he expanded the Wall Street litigation firm into transactional practices. 

During the Law, Disrupted podcast host John Quinn of Quinn Emanuel asked Karp if he lost sleep when making that bet back in 2008. Karp quipped that he was still losing sleep. Currently that could include any angst about what it is takes to become a dominant presence in the London legal market.

In an article I published today in O'Dwyer Public Relations I discuss the imperative in professional services such as law to develop new business, the most effective type of rainmaker and six star-making strategies. 

As an intuitive career coach/tarot reader I uncover for you the opportunities/obstacles  that others miss. Free confidential consultation. Try it. You have nothing to lose. If we work together, fees are what you can afford. For an appointment: contact Jane Genova (text/phone 203-468-8579, janegenova374@gmail.com). In-person and remote.


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