After nine months of discussions, Proskauer Rose and the U.K.’s SJ Berwin have decided not to move forward with merger talks, Legal Week reports.
In a joint statement, the firms said: "Our discussions end with the same profound respect, and with the greatest admiration for all the partners we have met during the course of this process. At this stage in our discussions we recognized that the timetable necessary to reach the agreements that would ensure the successful integration of our firms is not workable at this time. Accordingly, and with considerable regret, we have mutually determined to halt our talks. We look forward to continued cooperation between our firms for the benefit of our clients."
In a separate report, Legal Week wrote that that the partners at SJ Berwin had been growing increasingly frustrated with the uncertainty surrounding the talks and had pressured firm managers to draw them to a close.
In 2009, SJ Berwin also entertained talks with the ever-courting Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe. Those talks, like the recent talks between Orrick and Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, did not result in a consummation.
As previously reported by The National Law Journal, the Akin-Orrick merger discussions were derailed by a lack of interest by the partnerships of both firms, particularly in the New York office of Akin Gump.
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