Britain’s largest international law firms are struggling to attract and retain staff in the US after the crash in the value of sterling compounded their lack of competitiveness in the world’s most profitable legal market.
At least one major hire in New York fell apart in recent weeks as the British pound slumped by almost a fifth against the US dollar, according to people with knowledge of recent recruitment attempts. Existing senior staff — concerned that foreign exchange fluctuations would further erode their salaries — have also asked for their pay to be increased or pegged to the dollar.
The group of “magic circle” law firms that work on the City’s biggest deals have historically struggled to match their American competitors on pay, due to lower overall profitability and more restrictive compensation models that prevented outsized salaries for star partners.