Inside Perkins Coie's London launch: how Ian Bagshaw is building a firm for the companies of tomorrow
Private equity veteran Ian Bagshaw on returning to Big Law to lead Perkins Coie's City launch.
Contents
When Ian Bagshaw left private practice in 2021 after decades at firms including Clifford Chance, Linklaters and White & Case, he thought he was done.
But after a few years on boards and working with investors, the itch to build something new returned. "I felt too young not to do something key", he tells us in an interview for The Non-Billable Podcast. Now, Bagshaw is leading the UK launch of US firm Perkins Coie, betting on a tightly focused legal offering in London’s intensely competitive market.
Perkins Coie - pronounced Coo-ey, not Koi, as Bagshaw jokes - is one of the most tech-focused law firms in the US, known for representing clients like Amazon and Microsoft. But until last year, it hadn’t had a serious presence in Europe. Bagshaw’s job is to change that.
"This was one last challenge", he says. "One last dance."
Listen to the full-length interview on the podcast. Episode page with links here.
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Building with intent
For Bagshaw, the appeal wasn’t just returning to legal practice. It was the opportunity to do it differently by building something from scratch, informed by his experience both inside and outside of law.
Rather than replicating the full-service model common among UK firms, Perkins’ European strategy is focused on a specific client base: tech founders, their investors and the fast-growing companies they’re building.
"A lot of firms in Europe try to be all things to all people", he says. "What we wanted to do was work with founders and the investors behind them to build the companies of tomorrow."
That focus, he believes, fills a white space in the legal market - especially for clients with ambitions to scale globally and attract US investment. Working with an established US firm made more sense than launching a fully independent venture.
"To have that interaction with a credible US player makes for a more compelling proposition - for both clients and talent", Bagshaw explains.
London, he says, is still one of the world’s top five legal markets on a standalone basis, and Europe’s fragmented but active tech ecosystem is ripe for targeted expansion. "Some of the biggest businesses in the world by value and relevance are our clients in the US", he notes. "But they weren’t being serviced properly in Europe."
The result is a clear mandate: replicate the firm’s US tech strengths on European soil, with a few adaptations.
We want to work with founders and the investors behind them to build the companies of tomorrow.
Law Firm | Trainee First Year | Trainee Second Year | Newly Qualified (NQ) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Addleshaw Goddard | £52,000 | £56,000 | £100,000 |
| Akin Gump | £60,000 | £65,000 | £174,418 |
| A&O Shearman | £56,000 | £61,000 | £150,000 |
| Ashurst | £57,000 | £62,000 | £140,000 |
| Baker McKenzie | £56,000 | £61,000 | £140,000 |
| Bird & Bird | £47,000 | £52,000 | £98,000 |
| Bristows | £46,000 | £50,000 | £88,000 |
| Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner | £50,000 | £55,000 | £105,000 |
| Burges Salmon | £47,000 | £49,000 | £72,000 |
| Charles Russell Speechlys | £50,000 | £53,000 | £88,000 |
| Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton | £57,500 | £62,500 | £164,500 |
| Clifford Chance | £56,000 | £61,000 | £150,000 |
| Clyde & Co | £47,000 | £49,500 | £85,000 |
| CMS | £50,000 | £55,000 | £120,000 |
| Cooley | £55,000 | £60,000 | £157,000 |
| Davis Polk | £65,000 | £70,000 | £170,000 |
| Debevoise | £55,000 | £60,000 | £173,000 |
| Dechert | £55,000 | £61,000 | £165,000 |
| Dentons | £50,000 | £54,000 | £100,000 |
| DLA Piper | £52,000 | £57,000 | £130,000 |
| Eversheds Sutherland | £46,000 | £50,000 | £100,000 |
| Farrer & Co | £47,000 | £49,000 | £88,000 |
| Fieldfisher | £48,500 | £52,000 | £95,000 |
| Freshfields | £56,000 | £61,000 | £150,000 |
| Fried Frank | £55,000 | £60,000 | £175,000 |
| Gibson Dunn | £60,000 | £65,000 | £180,000 |
| Goodwin Procter | £55,000 | £60,000 | £175,000 |
| Gowling WLG | £48,500 | £53,500 | £98,000 |
| Herbert Smith Freehills | £56,000 | £61,000 | £135,000 |
| HFW | £50,000 | £54,000 | £100,000 |
| Hill Dickinson | £43,000 | £45,000 | £80,000 |
| Hogan Lovells | £56,000 | £61,000 | £140,000 |
| Irwin Mitchell | £43,000 | £45,000 | £76,000 |
| Jones Day | £56,000 | £65,000 | £160,000 |
| K&L Gates | £50,000 | £55,000 | £115,000 |
| Kennedys | £43,000 | £46,000 | £85,000 |
| King & Spalding | £55,000 | £60,000 | £165,000 |
| Kirkland & Ellis | £60,000 | £65,000 | £174,418 |
| Latham & Watkins | £60,000 | £65,000 | £174,418 |
| Linklaters | £56,000 | £61,000 | £150,000 |
| Macfarlanes | £56,000 | £61,000 | £140,000 |
| Mayer Brown | £55,000 | £60,000 | £135,000 |
| McDermott Will & Emery | £65,000 | £70,000 | £174,418 |
| Milbank | £65,000 | £70,000 | £174,418 |
| Mills & Reeve | £45,000 | £47,000 | £82,000 |
| Mischon de Reya | £47,500 | £52,500 | £95,000 |
| Norton Rose Fulbright | £50,000 | £55,000 | £135,000 |
| Orrick | £55,000 | £60,000 | £160,000 |
| Osborne Clarke | £54,500 | £56,000 | £94,000 |
| Paul Hastings | £60,000 | £68,000 | £173,000 |
| Paul Weiss | £55,000 | £60,000 | £180,000 |
| Penningtons Manches Cooper | £48,000 | £50,000 | £83,000 |
| Pinsent Masons | £49,500 | £54,000 | £97,000 |
| Quinn Emanuel | n/a | n/a | £180,000 |
| Reed Smith | £50,000 | £55,000 | £125,000 |
| Ropes & Gray | £60,000 | £65,000 | £165,000 |
| RPC | £46,000 | £50,000 | £90,000 |
| Shoosmiths | £43,000 | £45,000 | £97,000 |
| Sidley Austin | £60,000 | £65,000 | £175,000 |
| Simmons & Simmons | £52,000 | £57,000 | £120,000 |
| Skadden | £58,000 | £63,000 | £173,000 |
| Slaughter and May | £56,000 | £61,000 | £150,000 |
| Squire Patton Boggs | £47,000 | £50,000 | £110,000 |
| Stephenson Harwood | £50,000 | £55,000 | £100,000 |
| Sullivan & Cromwell | £65,000 | £70,000 | £174,418 |
| Taylor Wessing | £50,000 | £55,000 | £115,000 |
| TLT | £44,000 | £47,500 | £85,000 |
| Travers Smith | £54,000 | £59,000 | £120,000 |
| Trowers & Hamlins | £45,000 | £49,000 | £80,000 |
| Vinson & Elkins | £60,000 | £65,000 | £173,077 |
| Watson Farley & Williams | £50,000 | £55,000 | £102,000 |
| Weightmans | £34,000 | £36,000 | £70,000 |
| Weil Gotshal & Manges | £60,000 | £65,000 | £170,000 |
| White & Case | £62,000 | £67,000 | £175,000 |
| Willkie Farr & Gallagher | £60,000 | £65,000 | £170,000 |
| Withers | £47,000 | £52,000 | £95,000 |
| Womble Bond Dickinson | £43,000 | £45,000 | £80,000 |
Rank | Law Firm | Revenue | Profit per Equity Partner (PEP) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | DLA Piper* | £3,010,000,000 | £2,400,000 |
| 2 | Clifford Chance | £2,300,000,000 | £2,040,000 |
| 3 | A&O Shearman | £2,200,000,000 | £2,200,000 |
| 4 | Hogan Lovells | £2,150,000,000 | £2,200,000 |
| 5 | Freshfields | £2,120,000,000 | Not disclosed |
| 6 | Linklaters | £2,100,000,000 | £1,900,000 |
| 7 | Norton Rose Fulbright* | £1,800,000,000 | £1,100,000 |
| 8 | CMS** | £1,620,000,000 | Not disclosed |
| 9 | Herbert Smith Freehills | £1,300,000,000 | £1,300,000 |
| 10 | Ashurst | £961,000,000 | £1,300,000 |
| 11 | Clyde & Co | £844,000,000 | £739,000 |
| 12 | Eversheds Sutherland | £749,000,000 | £1,300,000 |
| 13 | BCLP* | £661,000,000 | £748,000 |
| 14 | Pinsent Masons | £649,000,000 | £793,000 |
| 15 | Slaughter and May*** | £625,000,000 | Not disclosed |
| 16 | Simmons & Simmons | £574,000,000 | £1,076,000 |
| 17 | Bird & Bird** | £545,000,000 | £696,000 |
| 18 | Addleshaw Goddard | £495,000,000 | Not disclosed |
| 19 | Taylor Wessing | £480,000,000 | £915,000*** |
| 20 | Osborne Clarke** | £456,000,000 | £771,000 |
| 21 | Womble Bond Dickinson | £448,000,000 | £556,000 |
| 22 | DWF | £435,000,000 | Not disclosed |
| 23 | Fieldfisher | £407,000,000 | £966,000 |
| 24 | Kennedys | £384,000,000 | Not disclosed |
| 25 | DAC Beachcroft | £325,000,000 | £700,000 |
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A startup inside a law firm
Bagshaw is consciously building Perkins Coie’s London office like a startup. There’s a flat hierarchy, lean infrastructure and heavy reliance on technology. Everyone is expected to contribute to both legal and business development work, including junior lawyers.
"We didn’t want a typical legal pyramid", he says. "We wanted a horizontal structure where we empower people in the team to own the development of the business."
That culture is reinforced by office design and expectations. Against the grain of most City firms, Bagshaw has insisted on strong in-person attendance. The London office was deliberately set up to feel like a collaborative space, not just a place to clock in two days a week.
"There’s no replacement for physical interaction when you’re trying to build something up", he says. "We've got fantastic office attendance - if you provide a stimulating environment, people turn up."
He’s also applying lessons from startups he’s advised, like social mobility platform Zero Gravity, where he saw firsthand how small, agile teams could outperform large ones by leveraging tech.
"Historically, law firms get busy and hire more people", he says. "We’re using technology to deal with busyness instead."
The result, he hopes, is a team that feels ownership, moves fast, and delivers a differentiated client experience - exactly what ambitious founders and fast-moving investors expect.
As for attracting talent, Bagshaw says Perkins pays Cravath scale (that's $225,000 for first-year associates at current rates), with compensation on par with top-tier New York firms. But it’s not the main focus.
"We don't publish our rates because in our mind, that's an outcome. We want you to come into the business. We want you to be the best version of yourself. And we also want you to own the strategy."
Connecting Europe’s tech with US capital
Bagshaw is clear-eyed about the gravitational pull of the US for high-growth tech companies. "The European market has much lower liquidity and valuations than the US market", he says, "so founders at the B-round stage are naturally looking to build a nexus there."
But rather than seeing that as a threat, he sees opportunity. Many European founders want access to US capital, but they also need advisers who understand both markets and can help them navigate increasingly complex regulatory environments.
"Whether it’s AI governance, data handling, or antitrust, the regulatory worlds aren’t harmonised yet", he says. "Founders want clarity, and we can help them build their business against a stable understanding of what’s coming."
This transatlantic positioning, he believes, is Perkins’ edge. The firm already works with US institutional tech clients and understands the trends founders will face. Bringing that perspective to Europe is what makes the proposition compelling.
Founders want clarity, and we can help them build their business against a stable understanding of what’s coming.
A dynamic moment for private capital
The firm’s European expansion also comes as private capital - both in terms of clients and increasingly as potential investors into law firms - reshapes the legal industry itself. For Bagshaw, this isn’t so much a new trend as an evolution of what’s always been true.
"Private capital has always driven the bus", he says. "The difference now is how mobile partners and clients have become."
What’s changed, he argues, is the inability of law firms to institutionalise relationships in the way accountancy firms - themselves currently in the crosshairs of external private capital investment - have. That can leave them fragile: when a key partner leaves, the client often follows.
"It’s created a fertile market for lift and shift practices to support partners transitioning to new firms", he says.
That dynamic has made Big Law both lucrative and risky, especially as firms spend heavily to attract lateral talent. But it’s also part of what makes the sector so attractive to private equity investors, despite the challenges.
"Professional services businesses are high margin, and potentially fast growth if you get the right people", Bagshaw notes. "The big question is: where’s the exit?"
He believes private capital will demand structural changes: more reinvestment, stable client books, better retention of key partners. "It’s hard for lawyers to police lawyers", he says. "Maybe only external capital can drive the changes needed."
That might explain why several top firms have begun exploring alternative models, from IPOs to private equity partnerships, though Bagshaw remains cautious about one-size-fits-all solutions.
"If you’re going to IPO, you need the characteristics of an IPO-able business - not just a successful law firm", he says. "That’s a different thing."
Long-term vision
So what’s the five- to ten-year plan for Perkins Coie in London?
Bagshaw says it's about building a client base of data-driven, tech-enabled businesses. "If we become their adviser of choice as they scale into unicorns and decacorns, we’ve succeeded", he says. But he’s also realistic that the process is never finished.
"Running a law firm is a continuous process of becoming", he adds. "Like painting a bridge - once you get to one end, you have to start again. You just keep painting."
For Bagshaw, coming back to private practice was, more than anything, about applying decades of experience to build something that looks forward, not back.
And for Perkins Coie, the London launch seems like something more meaningful than just another global firm planting a flag in Europe.
"Happy clients, happy people, big wins", Bagshaw says. "That’s the model."
Running a law firm is like painting a bridge - once you get to one end, you have to start again. You just keep painting.
| Firm | London office since | Known for in London |
|---|---|---|
| Baker McKenzie | 1961 | Finance, capital markets, TMT |
| Davis Polk | 1972 | Leveraged finance, corporate/M&A |
| Gibson Dunn | 1979 | Private equity, arbitration, energy, resources and infrastructure |
| Goodwin | 2008 | Private equity, funds, life sciences |
| Kirkland & Ellis | 1994 | Private equity, funds, restructuring |
| Latham & Watkins | 1990 | Finance, private equity, capital markets |
| Milbank | 1979 | Finance, capital markets, energy, resources and infrastructure |
| Paul Hastings | 1997 | Leveraged finance, structured finance, infrastructure |
| Paul Weiss | 2001 | Private equity, leveraged finance |
| Quinn Emanuel | 2008 | Litigation |
| Sidley Austin | 1974 | Leveraged finance, capital markets, corporate/M&A |
| Simpson Thacher | 1978 | Leveraged finance, private equity, funds |
| Skadden | 1988 | Finance, corporate/M&A, arbitration |
| Weil | 1996 | Restructuring, private equity, leverage finance |
| White & Case | 1971 | Capital markets, arbitration, energy, resources and infrastructure |
| Law firm | Type | First-year salary |
|---|---|---|
| White & Case | US firm | £32,000 |
| Stephenson Harwood | International | £30,000 |
| A&O Shearman | Magic Circle | £28,000 |
| Charles Russell Speechlys | International | £28,000 |
| Freshfields | Magic Circle | £28,000 |
| Herbert Smith Freehills | Silver Circle | £28,000 |
| Hogan Lovells | International | £28,000 |
| Linklaters | Magic Circle | £28,000 |
| Mishcon de Reya | International | £28,000 |
| Norton Rose Fulbright | International | £28,000 |
This is a condensed version of our full length interview with Ian Bagshaw on The Non-Billable Podcast. View the episode page here.
Law Firm | Trainee First Year | Trainee Second Year | Newly Qualified (NQ) |
|---|---|---|---|
| A&O Shearman | £56,000 | £61,000 | £150,000 |
| Clifford Chance | £56,000 | £61,000 | £150,000 |
| Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer | £56,000 | £61,000 | £150,000 |
| Linklaters | £56,000 | £61,000 | £150,000 |
| Slaughter and May | £56,000 | £61,000 | £150,000 |
Law Firm | Trainee First Year | Trainee Second Year | Newly Qualified (NQ) |
|---|---|---|---|
| A&O Shearman | £56,000 | £61,000 | £150,000 |
| Clifford Chance | £56,000 | £61,000 | £150,000 |
| Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer | £56,000 | £61,000 | £150,000 |
| Linklaters | £56,000 | £61,000 | £150,000 |
| Slaughter and May | £56,000 | £61,000 | £150,000 |
Law Firm | Trainee First Year | Trainee Second Year | Newly Qualified (NQ) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ashurst | £57,000 | £62,000 | £140,000 |
| Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner | £50,000 | £55,000 | £105,000 |
| Herbert Smith Freehills | £56,000 | £61,000 | £135,000 |
| Macfarlanes | £56,000 | £61,000 | £140,000 |
| Travers Smith | £54,000 | £59,000 | £120,000 |
| Firm | Merger year | Known for in London |
|---|---|---|
| BCLP | 2018 | Real estate, corporate/M&A, litigation |
| DLA Piper | 2005 | Corporate/M&A, real estate, energy, resources and infrastructure |
| Eversheds Sutherland | 2017 | Corporate/M&A, finance |
| Hogan Lovells | 2011 | Litigation, regulation, finance |
| Mayer Brown | 2002 | Finance, capital markets, real estate |
| Norton Rose Fulbright | 2013 | Energy, resources and infrastructure, insurance, finance |
| Reed Smith | 2007 | Shipping, finance, TMT |
| Squire Patton Boggs | 2011 | Corporate/M&A, pensions, TMT |
Law Firm | Trainee First Year | Trainee Second Year | Newly Qualified (NQ) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ashurst | £57,000 | £62,000 | £140,000 |
| Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner | £50,000 | £55,000 | £105,000 |
| Herbert Smith Freehills | £56,000 | £61,000 | £135,000 |
| Macfarlanes | £56,000 | £61,000 | £140,000 |
| Travers Smith | £54,000 | £59,000 | £120,000 |
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