Dentons

Dentons
Headquarters Decentralised[1]
No. of offices 120 across 52 countries
No. of lawyers Approx. 7,000
Major practice areas General practice
Key people Joseph Andrew
(Chairman of the Board and the Advisory Committee)
Elliott Portnoy
(Chief Executive Officer)[2]
Peng Xuefeng
(Chairman)
Revenue US$1.3 billion (2013/14)[3]
Date founded 28 March 2013 (by merger)
Company type Swiss Verein
Website
www.dentons.com

Dentons is a multinational law firm and the world’s largest law firm by number of lawyers.[4] It was founded in March 2013 by the merger of SNR Denton, Fraser Milner Casgrain and Salans. The combination between Dentons and Chinese law firm Dacheng announced in January 2015 created the world’s largest law firm.[5] It has more than 125 offices across 50-plus countries, with approximately 7000 lawyers.[6] Dentons continues to be ranked one of the world's top 20 Global Elite law firms by a survey of in-house counsel around the world.[7][8][9]

Dentons consists of multiple legal entities, namely Dentons Canada LLP, Dentons Europe LLP, Dentons UKMEA LLP, Dentons US LLP and their respective affiliates. These entities cooperate through a Swiss Verein called Salans FMC SNR Denton Group, which does not itself provide legal services.[10] Following the accession of Dacheng Law Offices to the global firm, the firm is called Dentons in English and all other languages, other than Chinese, in which it will be called 大成 (Dacheng). The logo will feature the Chinese characters globally, with the lettering 大成 Dentons.[11] The firm is decentralised and has no headquarters.

History

On 11 November 2012, SNR Denton, Salans and the Canada-based Fraser Milner Casgrain announced a three-way merger, forming a new law firm structured as a Swiss Verein and named Dentons.[12][13] The partners of the three firms ratified the merger on 28 November 2012, and it was completed on 28 March 2013.[14] Dentons opened an office in Houston, Texas in September 2013.[15]

On January 26, 2015, Dentons announced that it was combining with a Chinese firm, Dacheng (Chinese: 大成). The new firm will be called 大成 in Chinese, and will continue to be called Dentons in other languages. The Logo will feature the Chinese characters for Dacheng globally, with the lettering 大成 Dentons.[16] Following the Dacheng combination, Dentons will surpass Baker & McKenzie and DLA Piper, the world’s previous top law firms by headcount, by at least 2,500 lawyers.[17] The Dacheng combination was completed in November 2015.

2015 saw several other major regional expansions for the firm. In April, Dentons US agreed to a merger with Atlanta-based law firm McKenna Long & Aldridge which was completed in June of that year.[18] The firm also acquired offices in Australia, Colombia, Hungary, Luxembourg, Mexico, Singapore and South Africa during 2015.[19]

Main practice areas

Dentons' main practice areas include:[20]

  • Antitrust and Competition
  • Banking and Finance
  • Bankruptcy and Restructuring
  • Capital Markets
  • Corporate
  • Employment, Benefits and Pensions
  • Government
  • Intellectual Property
  • International Arbitration
  • International Trade
  • Life Sciences and Health Care
  • Litigation
  • Mergers and Acquisitions
  • Privacy
  • Private Equity
  • Public Policy and Regulation
  • Real Estate
  • Securities
  • Taxation
  • Trusts, Estates and Wealth Management
  • Venture Capital

Offices

Dentons has more than 125 offices covering North America, Europe, the Middle East, Asia Pacific, China, and Africa. [21]

References

  1. ↑ "New-look Dentons to be 'most multi-cultural' law firm". The Lawyer. 12 November 2012. Retrieved 30 March 2013.
  2. ↑ "Fact Sheet" (PDF). Dentons. Retrieved 28 January 2015.
  3. ↑ "Dentons reports first combined revenues since three-way merger". Legal Week. Retrieved 21 November 2014.
  4. ↑ "Dacheng to Form Biggest Law Firm with Dentons Merger". Bloomberg. 22 January 2015.
  5. ↑ "Dentons and China’s Dacheng Poised for Historic Union". American Lawyer. 22 January 2015.
  6. ↑ "China’s Biggest Law Firm Nears Merger with Dentons". Wall Street Journal. 22 January 2015.
  7. ↑ http://www.dentons.com/en/whats-different-about-dentons/connecting-you-to-talented-lawyers-around-the-globe/news/2013/october/dentons-enters-ranks-of-top-20-globally-recognized-firms
  8. ↑ http://www.acritas.com/globalelitebrandindex2013
  9. ↑ http://www.acritas.com/GlobalEliteBrandIndex2014
  10. ↑ "Legal notices". Dentons. Retrieved 20 May 2015.
  11. ↑ "Frequently Asked Questions". 大成 and Dentons. Retrieved 20 May 2015.
  12. ↑ "SNR Denton and Salans prepare to seal three-way deal with Canada's FMC". The Lawyer. 7 November 2012. Retrieved 30 March 2013.
  13. ↑ "SNR Denton prepares for mega-merger". The Washington Post. 11 November 2012. Retrieved 30 March 2013.
  14. ↑ "Salans, SNR and FMC approve three-way merger after partner votes". The Lawyer. 28 November 2012. Retrieved 30 March 2013.
  15. ↑ "Dentons launches in Houston to target energy work". The Lawyer. 24 September 2013. Retrieved 27 September 2013.
  16. ↑ dentonscombination.com
  17. ↑ "Dacheng Inks Merger with Dentons, Creates Legal Behemoth". Legal Business Online. 22 January 2015.
  18. ↑ "Dentons to merge with smaller law firm McKenna Long" (Press release). Reuters. 8 April 2015.
  19. ↑ Cohen, Mark A. (9 December 2015). "Around The World, It’s ‘Hola, Dentons!’". Bloomberg BNA. Retrieved 14 December 2015.
  20. ↑ "Fact Sheet" (PDF). Dentons. Retrieved 30 March 2013.
  21. ↑ "Global map" (PDF). Dentons. Retrieved 20 May 2015.

External links

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