| SNR Denton is poised to create a unique combination with European Salans and Canadian Fraser Milner Casgrain (FMC) conditional upon putting in place the requisite approvals at the end of this month. The combination is unusual in that it consists of a three-way merger which will uniquely cover Europe, Asia and North America. The new firm – which will be called Dentons is slated to launch in the first quarter of 2013.
Boasting a talent pool consisting of 2500 lawyers in 79 locations in 52 countries and across four continents, the combination will constitute the seventh largest firm in the world. The combination is said to be driven by ‘complementary geographic footprints’ which will aim to bring about a higher level of responsiveness to, increasingly, a larger base of international clients. Given that the legal market has taken a bit of a beating since the global financial crisis, Dentons’ strategy to cater to the more upbeat and the more lucrative Asian, Middle Eastern and European markets is a tactical one. By adopting the increasingly popular Swiss Verein structure too, the decentralised, limited liability model fits in well with its goal to create a ‘universal’ legal company without a dominant culture. In addition to elevating its energy practice to the largest offering in the world, the new firm is also hoping to boost its real estate departments in Asia, Europe, the UK and North America. In terms of numbers of lawyers, the tie-up will have the largest teams in energy, insurance, media and entertainment and real estate law in the world. Remaining in his role as chairman of the company, Joe Andrew commented “there’s nothing inherently good or bad with big firms or small firms, but there is something inherently good about having talent who knows what they’re doing. And you’re more likely to have that talent the more talent you have.” Despite the teething problems that combinations sometimes entail, including different partner compensation structures and client conflicts etc, the ‘bigger is better’ mentality has served Dentons well thus far, given that this is notably their second tie-up/merger in three years. |
