The fashion at law firms these days seems to be to exaggerate coverage and management reach of the firm by denying it is based anywhere and disregarding any larger offices it has.
Baker & McKenzie’s management are known to almost collapse in horror at the mention of them as a “US firm”.
The latest firm to join in is Halliwell Landau, which, despite having over 50 partners and its management based in Manchester – and fewer than 15 partners elsewhere – has decided now that it does not want to be called a Manchester-based firm. Fine, but only if Manchester United can no longer be called a Manchester-based team. Actually, given their fan base, that’s not a bad idea!
