Macfarlanes is to open a New York office next month, led by former managing partner Julian Howard.
It will be the top London independent firm’s third office, alongside its London headquarters and its Brussels arm, which opened in 2017 in response to Brexit.
The firm said the office, which will not practise US law, would bring it closer to the US private capital and private wealth markets while retaining its existing international model, which combines independence with an active referral network.
The firm added that it will continue to specialise in advising on English and EU law from London and Brussels.
Incoming senior partner Damien Crossley said: “The US leads the way globally as a source of institutional capital for private capital funds, for private capital assets under management, for private wealth and as a legal market.”
Restating the firm’s desire to collaborate, but not compete, with US law firms, he added: “Opening a representative office in New York is consistent with our independent model and our strategic focus on the private capital and private wealth markets.”
Crossley is due to succeed Sebastian Pritchard Jones as senior partner at the conclusion of Pritchard Jones’ second term in April, having held the role since 2020, when he himself replaced Charles Martin.
Howard was managing partner from 2010 to 2022 and is now a senior adviser at the firm. He has relocated to the US to lead the office, which will be staffed by members of Macfarlanes’ investor intelligence team. They will explore market trends, with partners travelling to the US as appropriate.
Howard said: “The US is the major source of global private capital and private wealth. We look forward to positively contributing to those US markets through our new office and to building relationships across the US to support our practices and clients.”
The move will not be Howard’s first international office experience, having been the resident partner in charge of the firm’s former Tokyo office from 1992 to 1997. The office later closed.
Macfarlanes’ private capital clients include Partners Group, 17Capital and Alchemy, while notable members of the team include two respected former Sidley Austin alumni, Stephen Ross and Peter Chapman, who joined in 2023. However, former Macfarlanes partner Sam Brooks left to join Simpson Thacher’s London office in September last year, in a rare exit from the firm.
Two of the firm’s 2025 partner cohort, Pinar Celebi and Alice Temkin, also have strong links to private capital and finance.
Private capital specialists have been in high demand on both sides of the Atlantic. Earlier this week, Jenny Choi moved from Weil to Sullivan & Cromwell in London, while Paul Tiger, the former head of US transactions at Freshfields, joined White & Case in New York last month.
Email your news and story ideas to: [email protected]
