SJ Berwin set for full German merger
Legal Week reports
February 26, 2003 at 07:03 PM
2 minute read
SJ Berwin is to seal its long-delayed merger with its German arm this year after reaching a compromise deal to financially integrate the allied multi-disciplinary partnership (MDP) with its UK base.
The move, which will fully integrate the UK firm with the 20-partner SJ Berwin Knoft Tulloch & Steineger from 1 May, follows months of negotiations between the firm and the English Law Society, which still bans MDPs in the UK.
In July last year the two firms drew up five different models for allowing the majority of German partners to join the City firm's partnership.
The merger plan was pushed through this year after SJ Berwin concluded that the Law Society's proposed MDP reforms were unlikely to be introduced for several years.
Integration of the MDP will see the majority of the German-qualified law partners joining as equity partners, with German tax lawyers joining as salaried employees.
The firm said that its tax lawyers would have "the moral standing of partners".
The integration brings to an end five years of a close alliance between the UK and its German practice, which has previously existed as a separate profit centre. However, the integrated firm will maintain the Knoft Tulloch & Steineger brand in Germany.
Uwe Steineger, an SJ Berwin Munich-based partner, told Legal Week: "We will fully integrate the firms on 1 May, but it will not change us as we work on the assumption that we have already merged."
Steineger added that the deal still faced final agreements on tax matters from a number of tax authorities.
Many UK firms have faced similar MDP problems when pushing German firms towards merger.
Using a different model, Linklaters separated the tax adviser and accountancy division of its German merger partner Oppenhoff & Raedler into a separate entity to conform with Law Society rules.
This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.
To view this content, please continue to their sites.
Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
NOT FOR REPRINT
© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
You Might Like
View AllSkadden to Close in Shanghai and Make Cuts to China Corporate Practice
DWF Group's Canadian Firm Set to Add Fourth Office With 16-Lawyer Montreal Team
UK Law Firms Face £75M Money Laundering Investigations Alongside Russia Scrutiny
3 minute readTrending Stories
- 1The Law Firm Disrupted: Playing the Talent Game to Win
- 2A&O Shearman Adopts 3-Level Lockstep Pay Model Amid Shift to All-Equity Partnership
- 3Preparing Your Law Firm for 2025: Smart Ways to Embrace AI & Other Technologies
- 4BD Settles Thousands of Bard Hernia Mesh Lawsuits
- 5A RICO Surge Is Underway: Here's How the Allstate Push Might Play Out
Featured Firms
Law Offices of Gary Martin Hays & Associates, P.C.
(470) 294-1674
Law Offices of Mark E. Salomone
(857) 444-6468
Smith & Hassler
(713) 739-1250