Eversheds Sutherland is heating up its U.S. expansion. As you may recall, in 2017, the United Kingdom-based Eversheds merged with the Atlanta-based Sutherland, Asbill & Brennan, and expansion has been on the combined firm’s mind since then.
In May, Eversheds Sutherland opened up a Chicago office. The location was started by a pair of lateral real estate partners — Marc Benjamin from White & Case and Susan Kai from Kirkland & Ellis — and litigation partner Robert Owen who relocated to Chicago from New York. The firm has over 100 clients in the midwest, including Texaco and Mondolez, and as reported by Law.com, the firm intends the office to be a point of focus:
“We needed to be physically on the ground in Chicago,” [Eversheds Sutherland’s co-CEO Mark Wasserman] said. “We plan for it to become a significant focal point for us.”
But that’s not the only location the firm is building out. Yesterday, the firm announced they were opening a San Diego outpost, led by a trio of intellectual property partners — Jose Patino, Nicola Pisano, and Christopher Bolten — they picked up from Foley & Lardner. And, as reported by Law.com, the firm believes that office is ripe to grow even bigger:
Adding the IP group in San Diego “is part of our strategy for U.S. growth,” Wasserman said, adding that he expects additional lawyers and staff from Foley & Lardner to join the trio at Eversheds.
Eversheds is also talking to lawyers with corporate, litigation or tax practices in San Diego, he said. “We think there are other opportunities.”
This bumps the number of U.S. offices up to eight, but don’t think that’s the end of the firm’s American invasion:
In the United States, Eversheds is “very interested” in growing in California, Wasserman said, adding that the firm is also talking to lawyers in Los Angeles and San Francisco.
“We would be happy to add this group wherever they were located,” he said of the Foley & Lardner partners. “And it’s a perfect opportunity to get more of a foothold in California.”
Eversheds also will continue adding lawyers to its existing offices in Texas, New York and Chicago, Wasserman said. “We’re talking to a lot of people in New York, and I expect we will be adding other people in Chicago as well over the next few months.”
It looks like the firm has picked the right time for this growth push — revenue was up 10 percent in 2018. If they keep on adding partners, their revenue is bound to see another upward tick in 2019.
Kathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, and host of The Jabot podcast. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter (@Kathryn1).