Dentons, the world’s largest globetrotting firm, has added 17 partners from an ailing Australian shop and announced a combination with seven firms across three continents over the past few weeks.
As 25-partner Australian firm DibbsBarker shut down, Dentons in May acquired ten of its partners in Sydney and two in Melbourne, while another five launched Dentons’ new office in Brisbane. They strengthened the firm’s financial services, real estate and corporate practices.
Dibbs’ eight remaining partners took different paths, moving to local firms including Piper Alderman, HWL Ebsworth, Gadens and Hall & Wilcox, while managing partner Stephen Purcell will take a break before making his next move.
The new partners join Dentons’ 130-strong local operation, which includes 50 partners in Sydney, Melbourne, Perth and Port Moresby in Papua New Guinea. The firm launched in Australia in 2016 when it joined forces with local firm Gadens.
News of the Australian hires came within a few days of Dentons announcing combinations with seven law firms across Africa, the Caribbean and South East Asia.
Dentons is combining with Hamilton Harrison & Mathews in Kenya, Mardemootoo Solicitors and Balgobin Chambers in Mauritius, Dinner Martin Attorneys in the Cayman Islands, Delany Law in the eastern Caribbean, Hanafiah Ponggawa & Partners in Indonesia and Zain & Co in Malaysia.
The deals add to Dentons’ offering in banking and finance, corporate, dispute resolution, real estate, tax and infrastructure.
The tie-ups in Kenya and Mauritius follow last year’s combination in neighbouring Uganda with Kampala Associated Advocates, with the firm aiming to become ‘the first truly pan-African law firm’, according to global chair Joe Andrew.
Africa chief executive Noor Kapdi told Legal Business: ‘With South Africa, Morocco, Kenya and Mauritius, we have covered all the major legal markets in Africa except for Nigeria. They are major entry points for investment in those regions.’
After these latest tie-ups Dentons now has a presence in 73 countries, but partners promise more in the pipeline. Kapdi added that the firm was ‘working very hard trying to develop a combination in Nigeria’ and an announcement may come as early as this year. Europe chief executive Tomasz Dąbrowski said earlier this year that the firm was looking at the Nordic region – Denmark and Finland in particular – and Austria in the short term. Switzerland and Portugal are also on the firm’s radar.