Macfarlanes opens New York office to strengthen private capital offering
updated on 04 March 2026
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London-headquartered law firm Macfarlanes LLP is set to open a New York office in April 2026, marking the firm’s first physical presence in the US as it seeks to bring operations closer to the US private capital and private wealth markets.
The new office, located at 667 Madison Avenue, will operate as a “representative office” and won’t practise US law, instead helping European clients “navigate the US”. The firm emphasised that the move doesn’t change its international model and that it has no intention to compete with its relationship firms, such as Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz.
Led by former managing partner and current senior adviser Julian Howard, the office will initially be staffed by members of the firm’s investor intelligence team who will identify and explore market trends. Established in 2022, the team sits within the firm’s wider non-legal client service, ‘beyond legal’. Howard brings extensive international experience to the role, having served as managing partner for 12 years and previously leading the firm’s Tokyo office before its closure in 1997.
Incoming senior partner Damien Crossley said: “The US leads the way globally as a source of institutional capital for private capital funds, for private capital AUM, for private wealth and as a legal market. Opening a representative office in New York is consistent with our independent model and our strategic focus on the private capital and private wealth markets.”
He also commented that the launch is a natural extension of Macfarlanes’ strategy and highlighted the importance of remaining relevant in a shifting market.
