Allen & Overy Shakes Up U.S. Leadership To Accelerate Growth

London-based Allen & Overy is continuing its ambition to be a dominant player in the United States with an announcement that it is making changes to its U.S. leadership.

Karen Seward and Kent Rowey will become U.S. co-chairs of the firm, which is one of LawFuel’s most prestigious law firms in the world, which is effective May 1, taking over from Tim House, who has been the firm’s U.S. senior partner since 2017.

Seward, who works in both New York and London, is one of the most powerful women in the legal profession and a strong advocate for developing the firm’s US footprint. She and Rowey, who splits his time between New York and Los Angeles, have plans to accelerate the firm’s growth in the United States in an ambitious manner that will shake up some big law players.

In the past six years, Allen & Overy has increased its number of lawyers in the U.S. from 180 to 270, and it has opened outposts in Silicon Valley, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Boston since 2021, mainly by recruiting from competitor law firms. Allen & Overy has over 40 offices worldwide.

Seward stated that they aim to be recognized as a dominant U.S. force in a few years and have their U.S. practice perceived as they are in the rest of the world.

Seward has been practicing at Allen & Overy since 2000 and is currently serving as the global co-head of litigation. Rowey joined the firm in 2012 and focuses on infrastructure financings.

The firm currently has approximately 100 U.S. partners and plans to reach 150 by the 2025-2026 fiscal year, according to Rowey.

By then, the firm aims to achieve a revenue level that would place its U.S. piece in the top 100 U.S. law firms by revenue if it were separated.

The firm has also been involved in some innovative technology developments, including the recently reported use of the Harvey AI chatbox.