Editors’ Note

Richard Rosenbaum is the Executive Chairman of Greenberg Traurig, a unified international law firm of more than 2,650 attorneys spanning 44 offices around the globe. He has long been considered a thought and change leader in the broader legal profession. He joined the firm in 1985 as its 90th lawyer and has since been integrally involved in forming and successfully executing the strategies which have led to the firm’s growth and unique culture across the Americas, Asia, Europe, and the Middle East. He closely guards the firm’s long-term core values while still aggressively navigating ever-changing times. Rosenbaum has always put the firm’s clients and people first, understanding that a law firm leader works for them, first and foremost. He is proud of his work in founding the firm’s renowned and wide-ranging “Commitment to Excellence” program, which ensures that all these values remain core to the firm’s daily practice and global brand for many years to come.

Ejim Achi is Co-Managing Shareholder of Greenberg Traurig’s New York office and Co-Chair of the New York Corporate Practice. He represents private equity sponsors in connection with buyouts, mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, joint ventures, restructurings, and other investments spanning a wide range of industries and sectors, with particular emphasis on technology, healthcare, industrials, consumer packaged goods, hospitality, and infrastructure.

Richard Kim is Co-Chair of the firm’s Global Finance Practice and Co-Chair of the New York Corporate Practice. He focuses his practice on representing private equity sponsors, public and private borrowers, lead arrangers, and lenders in connection with syndicated and bilateral loan financings, including senior secured financings, first lien and second lien financings, unsecured financings, investment grade financings, acquisition financings, and bridge financings.

Firm Brief

Greenberg Traurig, LLP (gtlaw.com) has more than 2,650 attorneys in 44 locations in the United States, Europe, Latin America, Asia, and the Middle East. The firm is a 2022 BTI “Highly Recommended Law Firm” for superior client service and is consistently among the top firms on the Am Law Global 100 and NLJ 250. Greenberg Traurig is Mansfield Rule 5.0 Certified Plus by The Diversity Lab. The firm is recognized for powering its U.S. offices with 100 percent renewable energy as certified by the Center for Resource Solutions Green-e® Energy program and is a member of the U.S. EPA’s Green Power Partnership Program. The firm is known for its philanthropic giving, innovation, diversity, and pro bono.

Deglobalization, inflation, and an impending recession are being discussed by world economic leaders. How is Greenberg Traurig’s global platform strategically positioned to service clients in this environment?

Rosenbaum: With these challenging economic times, many law firms will have to reposition to adapt to changing demands and face the challenges of competing in markets in which they don’t already have a strong local presence.

At Greenberg Traurig, in 44 locations around the world, we are entrenched in the local market. We spent over two decades strategically growing our global footprint across the United States, Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and Latin America. We set down roots wherever business is flourishing or on the frontier of innovation and technology. We never merge or create a verein. Instead, we intentionally hire locally respected and connected legal talent with a deep understanding of regional laws and whose values and standards align with Greenberg Traurig’s. When we open our doors in a new location, we have an established client base, and we continue to grow offices to meet client demand.

We are also mindful of challenges brought on by inflation and uncertainty about a recession. Our global platform allows us to employ geographic arbitrage and the ability to match billing rates to market conditions in each location. We are fiscally responsible in our execution and maintain strong financial management to minimize firm debt. In addition, we harness the advantages of technology, innovation, operational and space efficiencies, and economies of scale to benefit our firm and our clients.

While there is talk of deglobalization, the global economy is more interconnected than ever, and globalization can’t simply end – it evolves to adhere to political dictates and gain financial advantage. We see the challenges in this economy as opportunities; any evolution simply demands other legal needs, and we have the depth of skill sets to seamlessly guide clients across legal jurisdictions and in any economic environment. We are nimble and ready, with knowledge of local laws and practical legal guidance. The result is our winning platform that works both as decentralized local offices with boots-on-the-ground decision-makers and one united global firm with a common culture and worldwide resources.

Greenberg Traurig’s global practices have continued to grow over the years. In fact, we increased our attorney headcount in offices outside of the United States by about ten percent in 2022.

Achi: Our clients are seasoned operators of businesses who have experience not only with navigating turbulent economic environments, but also with identifying opportunities where others only see risks. We have invested in recent years in strengthening our capabilities, particularly in the transactional practices, and are well-positioned to assist our clients with pursuing opportunities they identify, mitigate associated risks as much as possible, and maximize the probability of achieving the desired outcomes. We really view our relationship with our clients as a partnership: in times of uncertainty, or potential uncertainty, we communicate even more and grow ever closer. We expect that to hold true as we enter a potentially more challenging economic environment.

Kim: Our clients often engage us for matters that require our seamless coordination across our global practices and offices. When we receive a matter that requires expertise in a foreign jurisdiction, we utilize our strong network of office-level managing shareholders and practice group chairs to quickly coordinate with our subject matter experts in the applicable foreign jurisdiction. Likewise, as international capital flows and interest in the U.S. market remains robust, our colleagues from Greenberg Traurig’s global offices often look towards our New York corporate team to lead inbound acquisitions of U.S. target companies and the related debt financings, and to quarterback transactions across multiple jurisdictions and practice areas, including tax, labor and employee benefits, real estate, intellectual property, and our regulatory teams. In addition, Greenberg Traurig attorneys are interconnected across the globe using our excellent videoconferencing, secure file sharing, and real-time connectivity technologies. This allows every Greenberg Traurig attorney the ability to quickly and efficiently gather the collective knowledge of our firm’s experts to facilitate our ability to successfully represent our clients.

Achi: The firm’s culture of collaboration across its global practices and offices delivers significant value to our clients. I recall a significant cross-border transaction, led by our New York corporate team, that was signed in the early days of what eventually became the global pandemic, when uncertainty was rapidly rising but the prevailing view was that the danger was limited to other parts of the world. We were on the buyside of that transaction; we worked very closely with, and received regular updates from, our colleagues in Shanghai and Tokyo, and worked with our clients to calibrate and negotiate for favorable risk-allocation in the contract. The favorable risk-allocation we negotiated ended up being outcome-determinative when the pandemic fully ensued and financing for the transaction began to experience turbulence. In essence, I believe that our global platform and our ability to collaborate successfully across that platform helps us see around corners and helps us function as better risk managers for our clients.

Rosenbaum: Our depth of diversity goes beyond markets and locations. We are proud of our award-winning diversity, equity, and inclusion initiative. We know that having as many diverse perspectives as possible is a critical asset for business and provides clients with more innovative and creative solutions. This initiative extends in our hiring around the globe. For example, recent statistics in our London office boasts the highest proportion of female equity partners and female partners overall of any major law firm in the U.K.; about a 20 percent increase in our ethnic diversity in 2022; and being in the top ten firms with the highest proportion of state school-educated lawyers in the U.K. We pledge our continued commitment to foster a diverse talent pipeline.

A law firm is only as excellent as its talent. We pride ourselves on the ability to anticipate client needs and recruit attorneys who strengthen our practice in New York and around the world. Greenberg Traurig attorneys possess the business acumen and industry knowledge to provide clients with practical legal guidance. We attract top talent by rewarding entrepreneurship and drive, providing the autonomy to make decisions within the firm’s framework of values, and investing in the personal growth of our attorneys.

As Greenberg Traurig has grown dramatically, how has its renowned Commitment to Excellence program ensured the firm maintains its quality and culture?

Rosenbaum: Greenberg Traurig was founded in Miami in 1967 by three partners who wanted to create an inclusive, diverse law firm to rival the caliber of elite New York firms. They built the firm on a strong ethical foundation with core values of integrity, honesty, quality, service, collaboration, diversity, equity, and inclusion.

As we expanded across the country and the world, it was imperative to maintain these core values that defined our brand. We developed our Commitment to Excellence program, a comprehensive and executable roadmap to ensure consistency of quality, compliance with the highest ethical legal standards, and that our values would never be diluted. The program’s actionable guidelines cover every aspect of Greenberg Traurig’s operations, from client service to transparent billing to hiring practices, as well as employee adherence to firm policies. Team leaders in each location and practice ensure policies are upheld by all employees.

The result is our unified law firm in which a common value system prevails. Today, with more than 2,650 attorneys and 44 offices across the world, our purpose has never wavered: provide clients with consistent ethics, excellence, service, and real value. Commitment to Excellence is more than a program; it is our pledge that we will place professionalism and ethical behavior at the core of everything we do.

When the world appears fractured and uncertain, Greenberg Traurig remains steady in the storm and works seamlessly around the world to provide unparalleled services and value to our clients.