Partners OK Latest Mega-Merger; Dentons Will Have Nearly 2,500 Attorneys, Be Set Up as Swiss Verein
A three-way merger of major law firms was approved Wednesday by the partners involved, setting the stage for SNR Denton, Salans and Fraser Milner Casgrain to combine early next year.
The new megafirm, which will be known as Dentons, will have more than 2,500 attorneys and professionals, making it the seventh-largest law firm in the world, says a statement emailed to the ABA Journal by a spokesman about today’s partner approval of the merger. Dentons will be set up as a verein under Swiss law, which allows the three original firms to continue to operate independently as far as their finances are concerned.
Elliott I. Portnoy, who works in Washington, D.C., and is currently the global chief executive of SNR Denton, will hold the same post for Dentons after the merger is completed. He served as the youngest chairman of Chicago-based Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal before the firm combined in 2010 with U.K.-based Denton Wilde Sapte to form 1,400-attorney SNR Denton.
A press release (PDF) about the merger on a new Dentons website provides additional details.
Additional and related coverage:
ABAJournal.com: “SNR Denton to Lose the Initials, Add an ‘S’ After Three-Way Merger”
ABAJournal.com: “Are Am Law Rankings Distorted by Swiss Vereins? Two of Top Five Operate This Way”
