Charles Russell Speechlys (CRS) has marked its US debut, hiring a six-partner private client team from Withers to launch offices in New York and New Haven, Connecticut.
The move takes the top-50 UK firm to 16 offices across the UK, Europe, the Middle East, Asia and the US, marking a "defining moment" for the firm, global managing partner Simon Ridpath said in a statement.
"The US is the world's most significant private capital market, and our global clients – families, entrepreneurs and private capital owners whose lives and assets span multiple jurisdictions – have long needed a trusted adviser based here," Ridpath added. "We are not arriving with ambitions; we are arriving with capability."
The New York office combines lawyers relocating from London with lateral hires from Withers.
It will be led by international private client partner Kurt Rademacher, who joined CRS in 2023 from US firm Butler Snow and previously led its US private client practice in Singapore.
Global head of litigation Stewart Hey and private client partner Sangna Chauhan will relocate from CRS's London headquarters to the New York office, while New York-based Withers tax controversy associate Phillip Colasanto is joining as a partner alongside senior counsel Reaz Jafri and Hugh Dixon, who will be the first US-based adviser to the firm's private office.
In Connecticut, the firm has recruited a six-partner team from Withers led by Shannon Smith, who has joined as head of tax controversy. It also includes private client partners Aaron Schumacher, Karen Yates, Wonchi Ju, Sandy Christopher and Michael Steffany. Ju and Steffany made partner in last year's promotions round at Withers.
In a statement, Withers, which launched its US practice in 2002 when it merged with New Haven-based Bergman Horowitz & Reynolds, thanked the departing team for their contribution and underlined its US arm's status as "an integral part of our international strategy" with "more than 380 people, generating approximately US$200m in annual revenue".
It added that it continues to invest in its US business, which comprises seven offices, having recently appointed five new partners there, including two in New Haven, alongside a special counsel.
The US move marks the latest step in CRS's international strategy, which is focused on growing its private client capabilities in global wealth centres. The firm opened a Milan office in 2024 as ultra-high-net-worth individuals flocked to the city, having set up shop in Singapore the year before.
Its US launch also follows Macfarlanes opening a representative office in New York earlier this year, in a move the top London independent said would help it target US private capital and private wealth markets.
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