Dentons Photo: Diego M. Radzinschi/ALM

There's just one continent where Dentons hasn't formed a partnership with a local law firm in the last six months: Antarctica.

In Africa, on the other hand, the the world's largest law firm continued its global expansion Wednesday, announcing plans to merge with firms in Angola, Morocco, Mozambique, Uganda and Zambia. The announcement comes on the heels of the firm's recent combinations with firms in South Korea, Honduras, Uruguay and New Zealand. The firm also added capability in Italy, looking to launch a U.S./Italy cross-border practice in June.

The new partnership firms are LEAD Advogados in Angola; Sayarh & Menjra in Morocco; Fernanda Lopes & Associados Advogados in Mozambique; Kyagaba and Otatiina Advocates in Uganda; and Eric Silwamba, Jalasi and Linyama Legal Practitioners in Zambia.

Collectively, the firms add a total of 51 attorneys to the Dentons roster, which now boasts more than 10,000 lawyers.

"The combination with these five firms builds upon our strategy to become the first Pan-African law firm owned and controlled by Africans," said Elliott Portnoy, global CEO of Dentons, in a statement.

Joe Andrew, global chair of Dentons, said that the firm expects to have the same sort of rapid expansion it had in South America, where within three years of entering the market it claimed the largest number of offices and became the first true "pan-South American" firm.

"This is just the beginning," Andrew said regarding African expansion.

Andrew noted that, like South America, the continent of Africa still "carries the scars of recent colonialism," not just socially but in how its businesses and legal firms are treated as well.

"You have these companies that are headquartered in the North and West who will fly attorneys in," he said, referring to the idea that in some of these company's eyes, the local legal and business community is not up to the work.

He said Dentons is hoping to empower the strongest of the local firms and give them a global platform. He also said that the firm's expansion in Africa is driven not by geography, but rather defusing the warranted cynicism that local firms have toward outside firms saying they want to create a truly "pan-African" firm.

"Our model is such that we are attractive to these firms," he said.

Dentons has long had a presence in Africa, having entered the market as Fox & Gibbons in 1964 in association with El Oteifi Law Office.

But the recent expansion, launched by partnerships with Kenya's Hamilton, Harrison & Mathews and Dentons Mauritius, and its approved combination in Zimbabwe with MawereSibanda show a concerted effort to provide strong coverage in the region.

"Dentons' recent combinations in Kenya, Mauritius and Zimbabwe have helped to establish Dentons as a leading Pan-African law firm, and these new combinations in Angola, Morocco, Mozambique, Uganda and Zambia, further strengthen Dentons' position to become the dominant global law firm in the region," said Noor Kapdi, CEO of Dentons' Africa region, in a statement.

The new partnerships, subject to approval by partners and meeting regulatory requirements, are expected to launch in the next several months.

The question that begs asking each time Dentons announces a partnership is how long it will be able to continue its global expansion? While overall mergers are down and many firms are operating under a contained growth strategy of incremental growth in targeted areas, the targets for Dentons appear to be everywhere.

"I've never met someone who needs 10,000 lawyers," he said. "They need one. But if you have 10,000 to choose from, then your odds of finding the right one increase."

Read More

 Dentons Continues Global Expansion With New Zealand Merger

Dentons to Combine With Honduras Firm