Dentons

Dentons
Headquarters Decentralised[1]
No. of offices 136 across 57 countries
No. of lawyers Approx. 7,300
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$2.12 billion (2015/16)[3]
Date founded 28 March 2013 (by merger)
Company type Swiss Verein
Website
www.dentons.com

Dentons is a multinational law firm. It is the world's largest law firm measured by number of lawyers, and the world's sixth-largest measured by 2015/16 revenues.[3][4] It was founded in March 2013 by the merger of SNR Denton, Fraser Milner Casgrain and Salans; Dentons subsequently merged with the Chinese law firm Dacheng in 2015.[5] Dentons has more than 136 offices across 50-plus countries, with approximately 7,300 lawyers.[6] The firm is decentralised and has no headquarters.

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.[7] The firm is called Dentons in English and all languages other than Chinese, in which it is called 大成 (Dacheng). The logo features the Chinese characters globally, with the lettering 大成 Dentons.[8]

Dentons is ranked as one of the world's top 20 Global Elite law firms by a survey of in-house counsel around the world.[9][10][11]

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) which was completed in November 2015. The new firm is called 大成 in Chinese, and is called Dentons in other languages. The logo features the Chinese characters for Dacheng globally, with the lettering 大成 Dentons.[16] Following the Dacheng combination, Dentons surpassed Baker & McKenzie and DLA Piper, the world’s previous top law firms by headcount, by at least 2,500 lawyers.[17]

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 opened new offices in Hungary, Luxembourg, Singapore and South Africa during 2015 and announced combinations with firms in Australia, Colombia, and Mexico.[19] The firm also launched Nextlaw Labs, a business accelerator focused on investing in, developing and deploying new technologies to transform the practice of law, in May 2015.[20]

In April 2016, Dentons completed a combination with Rodyk, the oldest and one of the most prestigious law firms in Singapore,[21] and formalized combinations one month later with Colombia's Cardenas & Cardenas, and Mexico’s López Velarde.[22] In May 2016, Dentons launched the Nextlaw Global Referral Network, the only free law firm referral network, which is based on a new technology platform that will allow member law firms to easily connect and track referrals.[23]

In December, Dentons launched in Australia, opening offices in Sydney and Perth in Australia and Port Moresby in Papua New Guinea.[24]

Main practice areas

Dentons' main practice areas include:[25]

  • Antitrust and Competition
  • Banking and Finance
  • Bankruptcy, Insolvency 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.[26]

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. 1 2 "The Global 100: The Richest Law Firms In The World (2016)". Above the Law. 26 September 2016. Retrieved 24 October 2016.
  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. ↑ "Legal notices". Dentons. Retrieved 20 May 2015.
  8. ↑ "Frequently Asked Questions". 大成 and Dentons. Retrieved 20 May 2015.
  9. ↑ 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
  10. ↑ http://www.acritas.com/globalelitebrandindex2013
  11. ↑ http://www.acritas.com/GlobalEliteBrandIndex2014
  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. ↑ "Dentons Launches NextLaw Labs Creates Legal Business Accelerator". www.dentons.com. Retrieved 2016-06-24.
  21. ↑ "Around The World, It's 'Hola, Dentons!'". Retrieved 2016-06-24.
  22. ↑ "Around The World, It's 'Hola, Dentons!'". Retrieved 2016-06-24.
  23. ↑ "Dentons disrupts pay-to-play legal referral industry with free, quality-based referral network". www.dentons.com. Retrieved 2016-06-24.
  24. ↑ "Dentons launches in Australia".
  25. ↑ "Fact Sheet" (PDF). Dentons. Retrieved 30 March 2013.
  26. ↑ "Global map" (PDF). Dentons. Retrieved 20 May 2015.

External links

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