Mates for life – International Law Firms Merger – An update from down under.

International law firm activity has continued to develop in the Australian legal market. Late in June Freehills one of the largest Australian Law Firms entered into a full financial merger with Herbert Smith. The new firm will be known as Herbert Smith Freehills (HSF).

HSF claim the new firm will be the largest integrated legal practice in the Asia Pacific region. With 7 different offices spread across the Asia Pacific region.

The International insurance firm Clyde & Co has raided the insurance partners in the newly aligned Allen’s (Aust) and Linklaters. Clyde & Co will be opening new offices in Sydney and Perth in early October.

Whether these mergers and new firms in Australia will provide more work for Information Services/Law Library people in Australia will be interesting to see. Or will this hasten the development of outsourcing?

Phil Mullen
SLA Legal Division International Relations Committee

The Australian Law Firm market is in the process of being reshaped as a number of large Australian law firms merge or form alliances with international firms. Traditionally the large Australian firms have dominated the Australian legal market and made it difficult for foreign firms to gain a foothold.

Many of the mergers are using Australian law firms reach into the Asian market place, to capitalise on the shift of the world economy to Asia with the rise of the Chinese and Indian economies.

Merger mania kicked of nearly two years ago with the arrival Norton Rose who merged with Deacons. Then in 2011 DLA Piper merged with the Australian firm Phillips Fox.

Since mid May 2011 the international invasion has been unprecedented. Clifford Chance merged with two small boutique firms in Sydney and Perth. Allen and Overy raided a number of partners from the Australian law firm Clayton Utz and Squire Sanders poached the Perth office of Minter Ellison.

This year, Ashurst has merged with Australian law firm Blake Dawson Waldron. Blakes is now known as Ashurst. The most significant development is the merger of the Australian law firm Mallesons (by revenue Australia’s largest law firm) with the Chinese firm King and Wood, in a deal that could “potentially catapult it to one of the largest law firms in China”.

Finally this week we have seen one of Australia’s most prestigious law firm Allens Arthur Robinson establish an Asian alliance with Linklaters.

There is talk of other major firms merging or entering alliances. Two years ago all these developments would have been unthinkable. The reality is that the GFC has changed legal business in Australia and the rest of the world.

I am unsure what all this means for Australian Libraries or Knowledge people. In the short term I suppose it means we will have to start thinking about how to access more international sources and form our own alliances with friendly SLA people in Asia.

Phil Mullen

International Relations Committee, SLA Legal Division