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