Wragge Lawrence Graham & Co (WLG) has set out its global ambitions, following the announcement in July of its union with Canadian firm Gowlings. Gowling WLG will create a 622-partner law firm across 18 cities, and is billed as a new Global 100 practice with revenues estimated at over £400m.
Although some peers have expressed surprise at WLG’s decision to go into the Canadian market, the combination is being pitched by management as a platform to reboot the combined firm as truly global.
Talks were led by senior management from both firms, which have worked together in a best-friends relationship for the last 20 years, with both firms’ IP teams particularly close. Chief executive David Fennell and head of international projects Quentin Poole led on WLG’s side, along with chair Andrew Witts and director Jenny Hardy, while Gowlings’ chief executive and chair Scott Jolliffe, partner Lorne Segal and one of the firm’s two managing partners, Peter Lukasiewicz, led for the ten-office firm.
Speaking to Legal Business, Witts said the union, which will house around 1,400 lawyers, was part of a strategy endorsed by the partnership last Christmas.
‘We made a commitment to find a combination on this scale as a critical first step in becoming an international law firm.’
Andrew Witts, WLG
‘On the WLG side we made a commitment to find and establish a combination on this scale as a critical first step in becoming an international, sector-focused law firm. That was the agreed headline strategy and conveniently Gowlings fitted.’
Gowling WLG, which will launch in January 2016, will be structured as a UK company limited by guarantee (CLG) with both profits and partnerships kept separate. The combination will be governed by a joint board consisting of Fennell and Jolliffe and there will also be an additional two representatives from both firms, though these positions have yet to be announced. Witts will remain in his role for WLG’s offices in the UK, Europe and Asia.
The move comes after the Birmingham-bred Wragge & Co finally sealed a London merger with Lawrence Graham on 1 May 2014. And though this means the firm has been through two transformative mergers in two years, Witts is already looking ahead to the next – with Germany and Asia being cited as two prime locations for a further combination using the same structure.
‘We don’t feel under pressure timing wise,’ said Witts. ‘We certainly want to get on and deliver. We hope to bring in one or two more member firms, certainly within the next three to five years. Maybe even sooner. We think we need to get more scale in Germany. We see it as an important jurisdiction for the business and its clients. And Asia-Pacific is an obvious target – in terms of like-minded firms with similar ambitions.’
kathryn.mccann@legalease.co.uk