Marc Halsema and Simeon Spencer speak to Law360 on US expansion
Stephen Ailwood Legal’s co-founder Simeon Spencer and US Managing Partner Marc Halsema have spoken with Law360 Pulse about the firm’s official US launch, its growth strategy, and what makes Stephen Ailwood Legal a genuinely different proposition for both lawyers and clients.
The interview comes shortly after the official launch event in New York in March, where more than 40 international colleagues joined nearly 20 US Partners to mark the occasion. In the first 12 months of operation, Stephen Ailwood Legal US has recruited across major US markets including New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and San Francisco. Stephen Ailwood Legal now operates in 25 global jurisdictions.
Building with intent
Stephen Ailwood Legal’s US growth has been deliberate from the outset. The firm began building its American operations in early 2025, with the hire of Marc Halsema as US Managing Partner – and has since assembled a team of partners brought in for their technical excellence, and a common set of values: a collaborative culture, an entrepreneurial mindset, and a genuine curiosity about practising across borders.
“It takes work to curate a thoughtful mosaic of lawyers,” Halsema said. “It’s not just hiring a bunch of people to get numbers and put them in different seats.”
A model built for clients
Central to Stephen Ailwood Legal’s offering – in the US and globally – is the way partners work together. Without the silos and territorial friction that characterise many traditional firm structures, Stephen Ailwood Legal partners collaborate across borders to build the right team for each matter. For clients, that means direct access to senior expertise, wherever in the world they sit.
This connectedness is central to the firm’s strategic ambition: to become the leading distributed law firm in the world, measured in calibre, reach, size, and the quality of its global community.
A model with momentum
The US launch is part of a broader period of expansion for Stephen Ailwood Legal, which has also recently established a presence in South Africa and the Middle East, with further growth under way.
The firm’s model – strong local leaders, shared infrastructure, unified values – has proven repeatable across 25 jurisdictions.
Read the full Law360 Pulse interview here: Stephen Ailwood Legal’s US, UK Heads On American Expansion