King & Spalding's London boom fuels fresh office expansion

King & Spalding has boosted its London footprint at 8 Bishopsgate for the second time in two years, taking the tower's highest office floor.

The Atlanta-headquartered firm has signed a 12-year lease on Level 47, adding 8,479 sq ft of office space and bringing its total footprint in the building to almost 60,000 sq ft across seven floors.

King & Spalding originally took Levels 27 to 31 at the City skyscraper in 2023 before expanding into the 41st floor earlier this year.

Office arms race

The latest expansion comes after strong growth for King & Spalding's London office, which delivered one of the firm's strongest performances last year.

Revenue in the UK rose nearly 50% to $148 million, which the firm put down to its disputes work and continued expansion of its transactional capabilities. The London office now houses around 50 partners.

Recent senior hires have included corporate real estate partner Ray Fang from Goodwin, competition specialist Jade-Alexandra Fearns from Paul Hastings and former Travers Smith tax head Russell Warren.

The office move also reflects the growing importance of premium office space in the City law market, with firms increasingly willing to pay top rents for premium real estate.

Several law firms now occupy space at 8 Bishopsgate, including HFW and fellow US firm Proskauer. Last year, Proskauer reportedly agreed a deal for additional space in the building at £147 per sq ft, a record high rent for office space in the City of London.

What they said

London managing partner Tom Sprange KC said the latest expansion "underscores the importance of the building to the firm's expanding London practice".

"As we look forward to continued growth and new opportunities, the additional space in such an impressive building will play a vital role in realising our ambitions," he said.