L.A. Law Firm, One in Britain Form Alliance
With an eye toward the planned 1992 economic unification of Western Europe, the prominent Los Angeles law firm of O’Melveny & Myers is positioning itself to do more business in that part of the world by forming an alliance with a London firm.
“We call it a strategic alliance,” O’Melveny & Myers’ Chairman Warren Christopher said Thursday of the partnership with Macfarlanes, which is being announced to the firms’ clients this week.
Christopher said the firms believe that this is the first significant link between a large U.S. firm and a leading British practice. The two plan to work together on real estate and other matters and to offer joint representation for clients.
Three of O’Melveny & Myers’ 460 lawyers are based in London, and the firm is considering opening a joint office with Macfarlanes in Brussels. Other offices in Frankfurt and Paris might follow, perhaps in partnership with a third firm, Christopher said.
One of the lures for Macfarlanes, Christopher said, was the strong Pacific Rim practice of O’Melveny & Myers, which has a three-person office in Tokyo. Its clients include prominent Japanese banks and insurance companies, as well as C. Itoh, a giant trading company, and Kajima Construction Co.
Searched for Months
“Many of the British firms recognize that the Japanese will be important in the development of 1992,” said Christopher, who was deputy secretary of state under former President Jimmy Carter.
Over the last six months, members of a five-person committee headed by Michael T. Masin, a partner in O’Melveny & Myers’ Washington office, have been crisscrossing the Atlantic in search of a European partner. In the course of four trips, Masin met with 14 different London firms and others in Brussels and Paris, Christopher said. Greyson Bryan, a partner in O’Melveny & Myers’ Tokyo office, also traveled to Paris and London.
Founded in 1875, Macfarlanes has 140 solicitors and represents, among others, Saatchi & Saatchi, the huge British advertising and marketing company; Dun & Bradstreet, and Seagram.
Macfarlanes is headed by Vanni Treves, 48, an expert in exporting and importing art. A trustee for a J. Paul Getty family trust, Treves spoke on the subject in April to a group at the J. Paul Getty Museum in Malibu. Treves is also a director of Saatchi & Saatchi.
