What has this to do with Davis Polk or, for that matter, Manhattan? Let’s broaden it out beyond Davis Polk for a moment and then we’ll get back to The Lawyer‘s piece. And let’s put it in generational terms: If I’m a partner in a well-ensconced New York-centric firm—say, one with at least 85% of its lawyers and/or billings in Manhattan—I can be in one of two cohorts. If I’m roughly 55 or above, I’m fine, thanks. I have a glide path to retirement and my (funded or unfunded) pension. If I’m roughly 45 or below, I have a few more questions, which could be summed up as, “So, what’s the plan?”

There’s also a talent recruitment angle. About 20% of students at law schools like Harvard, Stanford, and Columbia were not born in the US. That’s fantastic news, but with a footnote: These people have a global outlook. If 90 or 95% of your lawyers are on Sixth Avenue, and they might want to do a tour of duty overseas,….?

So, at long last to Davis Polk. Here’s how the story opens:

It was just over a year ago that Davis Polk & Wardwell, one of the US’ most conservative firms, proved that it had at last woken up and smelled the coffee.

The bluest of blue-blood firms has had a presence in the UK for years. Until last year it was the exclusive preserve of US-qualified lawyers.

Finally, however, with the hire of Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer capital markets partner Simon Witty, Davis Polk has launched an English law capability in London.

Initially, this may not sound like a lot, but it involved what The Lawyer called a “snub” to Davis Polk’s long-time elite best friend, Slaughter & May (Slaughter may have interpreted it as more than a snub, but on the other hand at some elite level they’re just about the only game in town), and most importantly it signalled a breakout from quieter days on Lexington Avenue.

If The Lawyer is to be believed, and I have ample independent reason to believe they’re directionally correct, Tom Reid, Davis Polk’s new managing partner (and a Scot) appears to be taking on the task of giving Davis Polk enhanced credibility in London and Hong Kong, not just New York, and doing it in the form of developing meaningful local law expertise in those jurisdictions.

This is seriously overdue.

Surprising is how serious—did I mention how welcome this is?—Reid seems to be about change:

In April 2011 Davis Polk stunned the US legal market when it announced that Reid had been elected managing partner and was to take over from incumbent John Ettinger, taking a leading place on the firm’s three-person management committee alongside head of corporate John Bick and Bick’s litigation group opposite number Carey Dunne.

“Reid was the sole candidate for managing partner,” says a source. “His platform, no question, was that he would be the biggest change agent he could be. He’s not a politician, doesn’t go softly-softly. He’ll tell you you’re shit. He absolutely won’t have been voted in to carry on the status quo.”

From day one Tom Reid’s surprise mid-year appointment heralded change at Davis Polk.

“Tom was not an obvious choice, unless there was an implication that goes along with it,” says the managing partner of a rival US firm. “Change out of the blue generally is a sign that something’s up.”

Here’s a bit more from later in the article:

Numerous sources confirm that the sharper focus on performance coupled with younger partners pushing for change [my note about a generational issue—Bruce] has led to an internal restructure, with several partners being asked to leave the firm. That would have been unthinkable under the previous, more patrician regime.

“The Ettinger years were a bit of a wilderness,” claims one source. “I know and like John a lot – he’s a very good guy, but he carried on doing client work while running the firm. And it was often difficult to get him to engage. Reid is quite direct so it’s likely there was, or is, some anxiety about the change. John was quite patrician in style, so you have two radically different personalities.”

Another source insists: “There’s definitely been change at Davis Polk. Tom Reid? I’m a fan. He’s an energetic being. And he clearly came in with the ambition to shake things up. He wanted to move the rev counter needle and has done that with the lateral hires. He’s been revving things up without breaking too much crockery.”

The moral?

The world is global. Even being (one of the few elite) Kings of Manhattan may no longer be enough. I’m glad Davis Polk is acting on that reality.

And even though I don’t yet know Tom Reid, I hope to soon. After all, he came from Kirkcaldy, in Fife and just north of Edinburgh-Kirkcaldy being Adam Smith’s birthplace.