Linklaters and Allen & Gledhill end Singapore joint venture as A&O talks progress
Linklaters and Allen & Gledhill are to officially end their alliance as the Singapore firm continues its tie-up talks with magic circle rival Allen & Overy (A&O). The firms have reached a decision to formally terminate the joint venture, which has been in place since 2000, over the last few days, with one Linklaters' partner suggesting the venture will be wound down before the end of the financial year in April.
March 13, 2012 at 10:15 AM
3 minute read
Linklaters and Allen & Gledhill are to officially end their alliance as the Singapore firm continues its tie-up talks with magic circle rival Allen & Overy (A&O).
The firms have reached a decision to formally terminate the joint venture, which has been in place since 2000, over the last few days, with one Linklaters partner suggesting the venture will be wound down before the end of the financial year in April.
The decision comes as Allen & Gledhill, which with 312 lawyers is the second-largest law firm in Singapore by lawyer count, continues its discussions with A&O about a potential merger. The UK firm confirmed the talks in November last year.
The Singapore firm initially asked Linklaters about forming a closer relationship, but the firm declined due to a lack of demand for Singapore law advice from its international clients, opening the door to A&O.
Linklaters, which currently has about 40 lawyers including seven partners practising foreign law on the ground in Singapore, now plans to set up informal referral links with several local law firms over the coming months.
A&O and Allen & Gledhill are still working out details of their proposed union, which the firms are hoping could take the form of a merger but which could initially be structured as an alliance.
Last month Singapore announced plans to open up its legal market by allowing overseas firms to take stakes in local law practices and share profits, with overseas law firms able to take a profit and equity share in a Singapore firm of up to 33% in the event of a tie-up.
The Singapore Ministry of Law is currently considering an outline proposal by A&O and Allen & Gledhill detailing how the union could work.
News of the end of the Allen & Gledhill joint venture comes a month after Linklaters partners confirmed that the City firm is holding discussions with Australian leader Allens Arthur Robinson (AAR) about a strategic alliance.
The pair started discussions about a tie-up last year, with several partners stating that the firms were pursuing an alliance rather than a merger to avoid problems associated with the disparity in profitability between the UK and Australian firms.
AAR, which is an established referral partner of Slaughter and May, posted revenues of $459.5m (£291m) in 2010 with profit per equity partner (PEP) of $1.1m (£696,000), according to the most recent global 100. Linklaters' revenues for 2010-11 stood at £1.2bn alongside PEP of £1.225m.
Linklaters declined to comment.
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 All
Can Law Firms Avoid Landing on the 'Enemy' List During the Trump Administration?
5 minute read
Letter From Asia: Will Big Law Ever Bother to Understand Asia Again?
Simpson Thacher, Nishimura, Mori Hamada Assist on KKR's $4B Winning Bid in Japan
Trending Stories
- 1As 'Red Hot' 2024 for Legal Industry Comes to Close, Leaders Reflect and Share Expectations for Next Year
- 2Call for Nominations: Elite Trial Lawyers 2025
- 3Senate Judiciary Dems Release Report on Supreme Court Ethics
- 4Senate Confirms Last 2 of Biden's California Judicial Nominees
- 5Morrison & Foerster Doles Out Year-End and Special Bonuses, Raises Base Compensation for Associates
Who Got The Work
Michael G. Bongiorno, Andrew Scott Dulberg and Elizabeth E. Driscoll from Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr have stepped in to represent Symbotic Inc., an A.I.-enabled technology platform that focuses on increasing supply chain efficiency, and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The case, filed Oct. 2 in Massachusetts District Court by the Brown Law Firm on behalf of Stephen Austen, accuses certain officers and directors of misleading investors in regard to Symbotic's potential for margin growth by failing to disclose that the company was not equipped to timely deploy its systems or manage expenses through project delays. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton, is 1:24-cv-12522, Austen v. Cohen et al.
Who Got The Work
Edmund Polubinski and Marie Killmond of Davis Polk & Wardwell have entered appearances for data platform software development company MongoDB and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The action, filed Oct. 7 in New York Southern District Court by the Brown Law Firm, accuses the company's directors and/or officers of falsely expressing confidence in the company’s restructuring of its sales incentive plan and downplaying the severity of decreases in its upfront commitments. The case is 1:24-cv-07594, Roy v. Ittycheria et al.
Who Got The Work
Amy O. Bruchs and Kurt F. Ellison of Michael Best & Friedrich have entered appearances for Epic Systems Corp. in a pending employment discrimination lawsuit. The suit was filed Sept. 7 in Wisconsin Western District Court by Levine Eisberner LLC and Siri & Glimstad on behalf of a project manager who claims that he was wrongfully terminated after applying for a religious exemption to the defendant's COVID-19 vaccine mandate. The case, assigned to U.S. Magistrate Judge Anita Marie Boor, is 3:24-cv-00630, Secker, Nathan v. Epic Systems Corporation.
Who Got The Work
David X. Sullivan, Thomas J. Finn and Gregory A. Hall from McCarter & English have entered appearances for Sunrun Installation Services in a pending civil rights lawsuit. The complaint was filed Sept. 4 in Connecticut District Court by attorney Robert M. Berke on behalf of former employee George Edward Steins, who was arrested and charged with employing an unregistered home improvement salesperson. The complaint alleges that had Sunrun informed the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection that the plaintiff's employment had ended in 2017 and that he no longer held Sunrun's home improvement contractor license, he would not have been hit with charges, which were dismissed in May 2024. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Jeffrey A. Meyer, is 3:24-cv-01423, Steins v. Sunrun, Inc. et al.
Who Got The Work
Greenberg Traurig shareholder Joshua L. Raskin has entered an appearance for boohoo.com UK Ltd. in a pending patent infringement lawsuit. The suit, filed Sept. 3 in Texas Eastern District Court by Rozier Hardt McDonough on behalf of Alto Dynamics, asserts five patents related to an online shopping platform. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Rodney Gilstrap, is 2:24-cv-00719, Alto Dynamics, LLC v. boohoo.com UK Limited.
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
