For Willkie Farr the gateway to Europe is Paris, not London

If Daniel Hurstel's schedule on Thursday, March 27, was anything to go by, the Paris legal market is in decent health. The head of Willkie Farr & Gallagher's office there, Hurstel was frantically attempting to juggle two deals while explaining parts of the U.S. firm's strategy in London to a visitor. The Paris mood is cautious, but it falls short of the outright pessimism of New York or the uncertainty of London. "There's some nervousness about volatility, but a lot of our corporate clients are looking at opportunities," Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton partner Pierre-Yves Chabert says, echoing a common sentiment in the market. Some U.S. law firms are looking at opportunities, too. For Willkie and Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe, Paris has become the power base of their European operations as they put expansion plans to the fore.

For Willkie Farr the gateway to Europe is Paris, not London lawfuel.com Sat, Mar 29, 2008