Just weeks after the merger of Hogan & Hartson and Lovells went live, Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal and U.K.-based Denton Wilde Sapte have reached an agreement to merge, according to The Am Law Daily. The combination will create a 1,400-lawyer firm with offices on four continents.
The merger discussions between the two firms began last year when Sonnenschein came to realize that its international presence, which consists of offices in Brussels and Zurich, wasn’t enough to compete on a global scale.
Sonnenschein chairman Elliott Portnoy told The Am Law Daily that Denton was a “natural fit.” Lawyers at the firms know each other from working on the Chapter 11 case of auto parts supplier Federal-Mogul in the early 2000s. Also, many of the 100 or so lawyers from Thacher Proffitt & Wood who moved to Sonnenschein when Thacher fell apart in late 2008 also had worked with Denton before.
Portnoy said the combined firm will be named SNR Denton and will move Denton partners onto Sonnenschein's merit-based compensation system. (Hogan Lovells is in the process of making a similar change.) Portnoy and Denton CEO Howard Morris will serve as co-CEOs of the newly combined firm.
Click here for the full Am Law Daily report.
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