Schwieriger Markt

If anything, Cleary's experience is a road map of what to do-and what not to do-when breaking into Germany. The legal market in the country is in a great deal of flux. U.S. firms continue to arrive: Reed Smith, Kirkland & Ellis, and Squire, Sanders & Dempsey entered Germany in the last year. But they face formidable competition from a few marquee names, most prominently, Freshfields, Clifford Chance, Shearman & Sterling, and Germany's Hengeler Mueller. To be successful, a firm needs to have a team of established German lawyers. Yet earlier arrivals have snagged the most experienced laterals. Unlike in the United Kingdom or France, where a firm can find success with a single strong office in London or Paris, legal work in Germany is decentralized, requiring firms to set up shop in more than one city. And building a client base isn't easy. As Cleary f…