The legal market is becoming truly global, with the economic influence in the world moving eastwards. I believe Norton Rose needed a significant increase in our Asia-Pacific resources in order to develop our business – but we concluded it would be difficult for any firm to establish a leading Asia-Pacific position without the weight provided by the inclusion of one of the large Australian firms.

While, from time to time, we receive approaches from various firms across the world, the approach we received from Deacons Australia, a major Australian law firm with more than 500 lawyers, was both compelling and timely. It fit well with our strategic aims, namely to increase the weight and size of the firm in the Asia-Pacific region and to increase the size and footprint of our global practice to better serve our clients.

As one of Australia's top eight law firms, with offices in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth and Canberra as well as teams in Singapore and Jakarta, Deacons Australia is a highly successful firm and well-matched to our own. We share common global ambitions, particularly in terms of the predicted growth markets of the future, our aspirations regarding strategic growth and also in terms of practice area and geographic expansion.

There was a view that bringing together the heritage, strength, scale and capabilities of two such highly-successful firms would make us both stronger, and on 22 June, 2009, the respective partnerships completed a successful vote to become a new Norton Rose Group effective from 1 January, 2010.

By joining forces with Deacons Australia, we will have a total of 700 lawyers based in 12 offices across the Asia-Pacific region and our total number of lawyers will be in excess of 1,800 globally (operating from 29 cities worldwide). This will allow us together to become a major competitor in the global market. We are confident that the increased strength and depth of coverage will enable us to improve the whole group's service to clients worldwide. It will also put us in a position to take advantage of the upturn in the economy when it arrives.

Virtually all business commentators view the rise of Asia-Pacific, and China in particular, as the most significantly anticipated development in the global economy over the next decade, and we share that opinion. This move will make the new Norton Rose Group one of the best-resourced legal practices in the increasingly important Asia-Pacific region. The greater weight and capability in the region will assist every one of our offices with the development of business connections and clients seeking representation in the region, in particular in mainland China.

In the course of the next six months, we will undertake a process of integration, moving towards a set of common values, systems and procedures. From 1 January, 2010, I will lead as group chief executive and the current Deacons Australia chief executive, Don Boyd, will be the deputy group chief executive. Stephen Parish will be the chairman of the enlarged Norton Rose Group.

The increased capability of the group throughout Asia-Pacific will lay the foundations for further regional development and expansion of the business into a global practice.

Peter Martyr is chief executive of Norton Rose.