A 10,000-lawyer law firm? There is 'no logical end' to Dentons' expansion, its global CEO says
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The world’s largest law firm aims to get bigger as it seeks to replicate the Big Four accounting firm model.
Dentons will have more than 6,600 lawyers and professionals after its merger with McKenna Long & Aldridge. The combination is part of a growth strategy that envisions becoming a one-stop shop for large corporations as well as small businesses, the Wall Street Journal (sub. req.) reports. Earlier this year, the firm announced a merger with Chinese law firm Dacheng.
Dentons’ global chief executive officer, Elliott Portnoy, told the Wall Street Journal that “there is no logical end” to how big the firm might become. “We’re going to be driven by our strategy,” he said.
Dentons’ global chairman, Joseph Andrew, tells the Wall Street Journal that the law firm hopes to disprove he idea that conflicts are the inevitable consequence of growth. A law firm that seeks more types of work–including routine and low-margin work–won’t be saddled with conflicts, Andrew and Portnoy say.
Some observers have questioned whether growing larger will aid the firms’ partners or clients, the story says. But the world’s second largest law firm, Baker & McKenzie, says in a statement that Dentons’ mergers are proof that the legal market “is becoming more truly global.”
And legal consultant Peter Zeughauser says Dentons’ expansion could offer a hint of the future. “I think we’re going to see a 10,000-lawyer law firm within five years,” he told the Wall Street Journal.
