Norton Rose Fulbright is said to merge with none other than The Wall Street practice in a joint effort to bring to life a law firm worth £1.6 billion. This law firm will be pushed to far up in monetary terms that it will enter the the global top ten as far as revenue is concerned.
According to The Times, the senior partners of the upcoming billion dollar law firm have revealed that the company will collaborate with the internationally renowned law firm Chadbourne & Parke this spring. This information was only released yesterday. The firm will thus form a business in thirty two different countries with a team of four thousand lawyers.
The merger will mark the second transatlantic merger for Norton Rose in the last four years. The first major merger came in 2013 when the company joined hands with Fulbright & Jaworski. Transatlantic consolidation is becoming increasingly popular amongst law firms as of late. Only three weeks ago, the merger of Sutherland Asbill & Brennan with Eversheds took place.
As reported by The Wall Street Journal, the demand for legal work is declining for many of the country's largest and most popular law firms. This has resulted in a steady increase in mergers in the industry. Chadbourne is based in New York and deals specifically with insurance and cross-border litigation.
The merging of Chadbourne and Norton Rose Fulbright indicates a rivalry between the "magic circle" firms established in the City and the English-dominated practice. This will undoubtedly be for reasons related to revenue.
In light of the current on goings, a spokesman of Norton Rose Fulbright stated that the remuneration structures for partnership at Chadbourne & Park would remain untouched and unaffected. The reason was because both firms were striking what is termed as the Swiss verein deal. This arrangement entails that both the English and US divisions are free to act as independent profit centres.
