The largest six Swiss verein firms have pursued varying expansion strategies over the past decade – Ben Wheway looks at what The Legal 500 data reveals
The six biggest international verein firms have transformed their global footprint over the past decade, stepping into new markets around the world via mergers, alliances and targeted expansion. Rankings data drawn from The Legal 500’s global guides provides useful insight into the scale of this change, as well as the relative rates of growth among the group.
While DLA Piper has the highest total number of Legal 500 rankings in the group with 733, Dentons is the fastest-growing firm of the six, more than doubling its number of rankings over the past decade from 275 to 566 after tying up with a seemingly endless string of firms from China to the Caribbean.
DLA has also significantly increased its rankings tally over the same period, up 58%, including notable expansion in Africa and Latin America, but the second fastest grower in the group is CMS, which has boosted its total rankings by 68% to 545, in part due to major tie-ups such as its 2017 tripartite merger with Olswang and Nabarro.
In comparison, Squire Patton Boggs and Norton Rose Fulbright’s rankings totals have remained relatively static. Norton Rose’s most dramatic period of growth took place just over a decade ago, with Asia-Pacific, Canada and South Africa mergers culminating in the 2013 transatlantic tie-up with Fulbright.
From a domestic perspective, it is notable that both DLA and Squire Patton Boggs (which merged with national firm Hammonds in 2011) have seen their UK rankings tally drop over the past decade, in part due to a gradual scaling back of their regional emphasis, with their focus turning towards more international matters.
The Legal 500 UK Solicitors 2023 is now available at www.legal500.com
See ‘Capture the flag’ for Legal Business‘ coverage of the Global 100’s Swiss Verein firms.