The worst-kept secret in global law finally became official in November. Norton Rose and Fulbright & Jaworski announced their 3,800-lawyer tie-up in June 2013, creating a $1.9bn firm comfortably inside the top ten largest in the world. It’s been a long time coming. We first spoke of merger rumours between the two firms in 2008 and the market has been awash with speculation ever since.
It’s little wonder that the union has captured the imagination. This deal is bigger than the last eye-catching transatlantic link-up, that of Lovells and Hogan & Hartson in 2010. While detractors may suggest that this isn’t a real merger because the firms are joining forces under a Swiss Verein structure and keeping finances largely separate, both firms are bringing their considerable firepower together under one compelling brand.
‘This is a flat market; there’s no sign of it being anything else for some time so I think you need to be able to grow and expand your client base,’ says Norton Rose chief executive Peter Martyr, who will take the reigns as chief executive of Norton Rose Fulbright next year. ‘This is one way of doing that and a compatible client base is a good way of extending your position within your marketplace.’
Norton Rose Fulbright will need to grab market share in a way that truly challenges the Global Elite.
This is make or break time for Norton Rose Fulbright. In 2013 and beyond it will need to grab market share in a way that truly challenges the Global Elite. The time is now – with finance and corporate transactional work reduced to a thin trickle, Norton Rose Fulbright is strong in some thriving areas, most notably energy. Its combined practice will give global challengers definite pause. Leveraging off Fulbright’s renowned strength in disputes on both sides of the Atlantic to form a global regulatory and investigations practice could be another way to attract clients to other parts of the business.
‘The great thing about this is that we have an opportunity to act for other clients operating in our chosen sectors who are maybe using other law firms,’ says Martyr. It’s fighting talk and that is what’s needed. The tussle between the Global Elite and the global challengers just went up a gear.
While the new firm has combined revenues on a par with Linklaters, according to our latest Global 100 figures, it is still regarded as being in the chasing pack of firms challenging the Global Elite with firms such as DLA Piper, Hogan Lovells and Baker & McKenzie. But these so-called global service firms are winning meaty transactions and market share and taking on the world in the process. Norton Rose Fulbright will have a distinct advantage as it has grown in key markets such as Australia, Canada and South Africa. The US angle was always the major missing piece of the jigsaw. With that secure, it’s time for the Global Elite to really start looking over its shoulders.