Baker & McKenzie is this week leading a group of international firms aiming to take lawyers from Coudert Brothers' splintering network after the embattled US firm last week decided to dissolve.

The 152-year-old Coudert announced on 16 August that it was to dissolve following a devastating few years that have seen office closures, failed merger bids and mass partner departures.

The decision, which spells the end of one of the legal sector's international pioneers, leaves Coudert's 19-office global network searching for new homes, with Bakers poised to take on at least four offices.

The Chicago-based giant is understood to have made an unofficial offer for Coudert's New York, Washington DC, Moscow and Almaty offices.

Other firms to have shown interest in parts of Coudert's network include Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, LeBoeuf Lamb Greene & MacRae, Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman, DLA Piper Rudnick Gray Cary, McDermott Will & Emery and Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe.

Four hundred-lawyer Coudert becomes the fourth major US practice to collapse in three years, following the dissolution of Brobeck Phleger & Harrison, Altheimer & Gray and Testa Hurwitz & Thibeault.

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