Going Global: A Case Study

Produced

• 2003

Key Features

Video type: VHS
Length: 46 mins. (2003)

a Stanford Graduate School of Business Executive Briefing

Featuring:
Mary Cranston, Firm Chair, Pillsbury Winthrop, LLP

Mary Cranston is currently the Chair of Pillsbury Winthrop, LLP. She received her JD from Stanford Law School, and holds an MA from the University of California at Los Angeles. Ms. Cranston has been named to the National Law Journal's list of "The 100 Most Influential Lawyers in America."

Highlights:

• Finding the right strategic partners
• Orchestrating the buy-in of key players
• Tactical choices and logistical pitfalls--who, where, why, and when.

How did two venerable institutions transform themselves in order to keep up with rapidly changing times? Pillsbury Winthrop was created in 2001 with the merger of two 125-year-old law firms that were historic market leaders in their respective birthplaces: San Francisco and New York. In response to new technology and a climate of deregulation, their corporate clients were going global-they had to do the same. The merger of Pillsbury Madison & Sutro with Winthrop Stimson Putnam & Roberts allowed them to become an international force in their industry virtually overnight.

Mary Cranston, along with Pillsbury's managing partner Marina Park, initiated the deal. Generating a sense of urgency, and convincing her partners that the status quo was a higher risk than moving forward, she orchestrated the buy-in of key players. This process turned out to be the best thing that could have happened, though the strategic choices and logistical pitfalls were a painful challenge at the time. Working with Winthrop's Chair, John Pritchard, Ms. Cranston expanded these firms into a national and international footprint in response to market changes.

What do you do if your clients are going global? How should your company respond to a market that is globalizing? Mary Cranston speaks of her experience in leading Pillsbury Winthrop through this process.