Allen & Overy (A&O) has launched its flexible resourcing unit, Peerpoint, in the US as it becomes the latest firm to tap into the heightened demand for alternative legal service provision during the Covid-19 pandemic. 

Led by business development specialist Amie Davidson, the flexi-lawyering service’s US operations will operate out of the UK firm’s New York office to support its US clients on domestic and cross-border engagements, A&O announced on Tuesday. 

Davidson re-joined the firm from Deloitte earlier this year to spearhead the US launch, having previously spent more than a decade with A&O in London and New York in a number of business development roles before departing for New York-based disputes firm Kobre & Kim in 2016 and later landing at Deloitte. 

“With the war for legal talent only becoming more competitive in the US and at a time when many lawyers are reflecting on their careers, working patterns and personal priorities, Peerpoint, as part of Allen & Overy, is excited to offer an alternative career path to meet the needs of a new breed of modern lawyer,” Davidson said. 

She added: “For those lawyers looking to leave the traditional law firm or in-house legal environment, we offer the ability to chart their own career course, while still having the support and resources of a global law firm.”

Launched in 2013, Peerpoint aims to connect clients looking for interim and project-based legal support with top legal talent fully vetted and supported by the firm’s resources, A&O’s US senior partner Tim House explained. 

House further described the launch as “another example of how we continue to offer increasingly innovative, flexible and impact legal solutions to our US clients”. 

Peerpoint currently comprises more than 350 lawyers across Europe, Asia Pacific and the Middle East who cover a range of practice areas including banking, capital markets, general corporate and M&A. Following the US launch, the firm said it will be actively recruiting US-based and US-qualified lawyers to join its Peerpoint panel. 

By bringing Peerpoint to the US, A&O joins the growing list of big law firms looking to expand their flexible resourcing arms in order to compete with dedicated alternative legal service providers (ALSPs) by developing comparable services.

Last year, Eversheds Sutherland launched its Konexo flexible resourcing service in the US while Silicon Valley-based top 100 US firm Fenwick & West has operated its highly rated staffing platform FLEX since 2010. They compete with US new law giants Axiom, which acquired US rival Bliss Lawyers last year, and Elevate.

Other firms that operate flexible resourcing arms include A&O’s Magic Circle rival Linklaters, which launched a 400-strong legal operations function in March last year to bring its new law offerings, including ts flexible lawyer network Re:link, into a single unit.

Last month, Malaysia’s LAW Partnership created an interim legal resourcing service in response to the high demand for ALSPs in the Malaysian legal market as a result of the pandemic. 

However, In July last year, DWF announced the closure of its UK-based flexible resourcing arm as part of a range of Covid-19 related cost cutting measures.