London remains easily the most popular city for major US law firms establishing themselves in Europe, hosting almost twice as many American offices as its nearest rival.

According to figures released at the conference, some 51 of the top US law firms are now established in the UK capital, with its closest challenger, Brussels, playing host to 30. Next in the league table of popularity is Paris, with 27 US firm offices, followed by Frankfurt with 20 and Milan with 12. London also has the biggest offices by average head count (37).


The 61 top US law firms have 206 European offices, stretching to some more off-beat destinations as Valencia, Helsinki and Bratislava. In total - taking niche firms into account &150; there are 215 branches of US firms in Europe, including 65 in London.


The survey &150; conducted by Professor Carole Silver, vice-chairwoman of the ABA section on international law &150; found there are more than 4,000 lawyers working at US offices in the EU. But of those only about 20% are US-qualified practitioners.


The picture contrasts sharply with the position of European law firms in the US. According to separate figures compiled by the Law Society, there are only 22 branches of EU firms practising in the US, with all apart from five based in New York.


The Chancery Lane statistics show that in 2003, the most recent year in which figures were available, the total of US exports of legal services was worth $3.4 billion, more than half of which was exported to Europe. In contrast, European legal exports were estimated to be around $4-5 billion in that year, with the UK alone exporting $3.2 billion.


Alison Hook, head of international at the Law Society, told an international summit of bar leaders held at the conference that there are some profound philosophical differences between the approach of US and EU law firms: US firms look to open offices in the EU while EU firms prefer to adopt an alliances approach. However, London practices have adopted the US approach, she said.