Personal injury: Slater & Gordon in talks to acquire Fentons

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Further consolidation in the personal injury market looks set to take place next week after it emerged that acquisitive Australian-listed firm Slater & Gordon (S&G) is in talks with London and Manchester personal injury firm Fentons.

As first reported by RollOnFriday, S&G is expected to announce the deal on Tuesday (20 August). If the acquisition goes through it will nearly double S&G’s 146-lawyer UK arm, adding 120 lawyers, including 36 partners and 30 fee-earners. Continue reading “Personal injury: Slater & Gordon in talks to acquire Fentons”

What’s in a name? SJ Berwin and King & Wood Mallesons seal union

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Forming a ground-breaking union between a leading City firm and an Asia powerhouse, King & Wood Mallesons (KWM) partners confirmed this morning (31 July) that the Hong Kong-headquartered firm would merge with the UK’s SJ Berwin.

KWM partners in Australia and China voted simultaneously in favour of the merger at 1pm Hong Kong time and 3pm Sydney time in person, while SJ Berwin partners have voted electronically over the last five days. The merger will go live on 1 November, creating a firm with combined revenues over $1bn and 2,223 lawyers, including 553 partners.

KWM operates three separate partnerships in China, Hong Kong and Australia and although the Chinese partnership was given a longer time to consider the deal, all votes were in by today’s deadline. Continue reading “What’s in a name? SJ Berwin and King & Wood Mallesons seal union”

If you can’t beat ’em… Cripps Harries merges with Vertex as Geldards acquires TPP Law

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Good strategy is rarely dictated by old wives’ tales but the adage ‘if you can’t beat them join them’ certainly rings truer than ever in the regions and this week has seen the merger between two of Kent’s best-known law firms, Cripps Harries Hall and Vertex Law, as Midlands firm Geldards also pushes its public law brand in the City with the acquisition of TPP Law.

Property specialist Cripps, which the Legal 500 gives top-tier recommendations for commercial property and property litigation in the South East, will combine with corporate and commercial-focused Vertex Law to strengthen its position in Kent and extend its reach across the region and into London.

The merger will create a firm of 45 partners and 260 staff and is said by the firms to create ‘an enhanced joint client offering across core areas.’ Continue reading “If you can’t beat ’em… Cripps Harries merges with Vertex as Geldards acquires TPP Law”

A high-stakes global play – SJ Berwin to vote next week on tie-up with Asian giant King & Wood Mallesons

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Arguably the most ambitious deal to hit the global legal market since the 2010 tie-up between Hogan & Hartson and Lovells looks set to go ahead as it emerges that SJ Berwin is to vote next week on its proposed merger with Asia-Pacific giant King & Wood Mallesons.

Legal Business understands that SJ Berwin partners were given a week’s notice this morning of the vote, which will close at the end of the month. Continue reading “A high-stakes global play – SJ Berwin to vote next week on tie-up with Asian giant King & Wood Mallesons”

Comment: SJ Berwin’s choice – to soar or crash with an Asian giant

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If you are going to finally do a global merger, it would be fitting for one of the most distinctive City practices to hook up with the great outlier of the Global 100. That is what is on the agenda for SJ Berwin as it this summer mulls an outline deal to combine with King & Wood Mallesons (KWM), the ground-breaking union between the top commercial law firms in China and Australia. Continue reading “Comment: SJ Berwin’s choice – to soar or crash with an Asian giant”

The daily grind – toil and tension as Hogan Lovells gets past the honeymoon period

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It’s been three years since the trailblazing transatlantic pairing of Hogan & Hartson and Lovells. Legal Business assesses if the much-touted marriage is living up to expectations

Rarely for a June evening in London, the sun was shining on the rooftop bar as the Legal Business journalist by chance ran into a senior partner at Hogan Lovells. ‘I have to ask, as we’re doing a piece on the firm, three years on, how do you think it’s going?’ The reply was to the point: ‘I saw the e-mail telling us not to talk to your journalists. Well, what do you want to know?’

Continue reading “The daily grind – toil and tension as Hogan Lovells gets past the honeymoon period”

Merger watch – Norton Rose Fulbright Dubai team in talks to join rival

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It’s a cliché that you can’t do large legal mergers without some fallout, a truism that Norton Rose Fulbright now has the chance to contemplate, as it emerges that its Festival Towers Dubai office is likely to move in the wake of its merger this month.

Dubai is one of the few international jurisdictions where Norton Rose and US partner Fulbright & Jaworski had overlapping offerings, which has resulted in a clash of personalities. The two firms combined on 3 June forging a top 10 global practice in revenue terms. Continue reading “Merger watch – Norton Rose Fulbright Dubai team in talks to join rival”

Comment: In defence of big – the maths are favouring two + two

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How many times do you hear lawyers roll out the line about mergers having to be two-plus-two-makes-five? True in many regards. Getting bigger doesn’t make you better or necessarily solve structural and strategic issues and mergers are hard to pull off effectively.

But when it comes down to it, this truism has become pretty misleading in Law Firm Land 2013.

Because scale does indeed matter in law, all things being equal. Bigger firms have the economies of scale – and these advantages are only getting more important given the continual shift towards smaller and more process-driven panels. Continue reading “Comment: In defence of big – the maths are favouring two + two”

Kennedys seals tie-up with Gates and Partners in aviation sector shake up

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International dispute resolution law firm Kennedys and rated aviation and aerospace outfit Gates and Partners have merged in a move designed to achieve ‘an even greater international platform’ and strengthen their offering to global insurance and reinsurance clients.

The merger, which went live on 1 June, will enable Kennedy’s to offer comprehensive legal support to the aviation sector including corporate and commercial, regulatory and competition, employment, finance, insurance and dispute resolution services. The merger will also give an expanded platform to the already international Gates team, which has offices in London, Brussels, Singapore and Dubai. The merged firm will be known as Kennedys and the new team will operate as Kennedys Aviation.

Continue reading “Kennedys seals tie-up with Gates and Partners in aviation sector shake up”

Withers and Speechly union off as SJP and KWM edge closer

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Merger talks between private client firms Withers and Speechly Bircham were called off at the end of May as both sides claimed the merger would not be in their best interests.

A joint statement from the firms said: ‘Following detailed discussions between the management and partnerships of Withers and Speechly Bircham, both sides have now concluded that a merger would not be in the best interests of both firms and have agreed not to pursue this further. The talks have enhanced the respect that both firms have for each other.’

Continue reading “Withers and Speechly union off as SJP and KWM edge closer”