A merger of Dentons US and McKenna Long & Aldridge has been approved by the partners of both firms. The news builds on the momentum of the previously announced combination between Dentons and Dacheng, which created the world’s largest law firm. Clients within the US will gain access to markets around the world, and international clients will enjoy increased strength and reach across the US.
Dentons will serve clients from more than 125 locations across 50 plus countries. It will boast approximately 6,600 lawyers and professionals worldwide, with more than 1,100 of them based in the United States. The team will span 21 US locations.
The merger is done in the hope of significantly enhancing client service across practices and sectors. Disciplines that will benefit include corporate, litigation, real estate, insurance, public policy and regulation, government contracts and intellectual property.
Following the merger, Dentons will have a substantially increased presence across the US, providing the firm an enhanced position in the Southeastern US and the Western US, including California, the third-largest US market.
Furthermore, the merging firms hope to create global synergies. Building on Dentons’ global platform and the upcoming combination with Dacheng, this merger will enable Dentons US to offer more services in more places to more clients. Dentons currently offers the fifth-largest presence in Canada. McKenna Long’s Seoul office will advance the firm’s inroads into the fast-growing Asia Pacific market.
Finally, the plan is to leverage Dentons’ polycentric approach on behalf of clients. Both Dentons and McKenna Long aim to embrace the diversity of people, geography, cultures, legal traditions and clients. Dentons will have no dominant national culture or single headquarters. This polycentric approach is for clients competing in globalised markets and sectors and offers legal talent from diverse backgrounds and countries and with experience in civil law, common law, Shari’ah law and Chinese law.
The merger of Dentons US and McKenna Long is expected to be effective later in 2015.
Elsewhere, Anderson Mori & Tomotsune was pleased to announce it was joined by the core members of Bingham Sakai Mimura Aizawa, effective April 1, 2015.
Recognised particularly for its premier cross-border insolvency/restructuring and crisis management practices, Bingham Sakai Mimura Aizawa aims to be one of the leading international law firms in Japan and offer cutting-edge services through a joint enterprise formed with a major US law firm. Anderson Mori & Tomotsune is one of the longest established Japanese law firms with a tradition of serving transnational businesses with a full range of legal services, especially in large and complex corporate, M&A, finance and capital market transactions. Going forward, the two hope to be in a stronger position to provide clients with prompt and accurate advice across a broad spectrum of legal issues and handle the largest transactions in Japan; especially those which are cross-sectoral and extremely complex.
