Last year's merger between Norton Rose and Fulbright & Jaworski heralded the arrival of a new breed of global giant. True, Dentons managed to get its deal off the ground sooner, but when it came to geographic reach Norton Rose Fulbright – formed as it was through unions in Canada, South Africa and Australia, in addition to the US and UK – was, and remains, streets ahead. 

Not that this means its future position is guaranteed. The issues facing Norton Rose Fulbright today are pretty much identical to those it faced a year ago. Size alone does not equate to success and the firm still needs to capitalise on all of its unions around the world by converting them into new client wins, cross-referrals and, more importantly, the right mandates – issues chief executive Peter Martyr acknowledges in his interview with Legal Week. 

The firm also has to look very seriously at succession planning at a time when Martyr's current term is due to draw to a close at the end of this year. While he is almost certain to have his post extended, it is an issue that needs to be dealt with properly, as even someone with Martyr's apparent energy cannot continue forever and, from the outside, obvious successors appear thin on the ground. Certainly you don't need to look very far to see examples of firms that have lost their way following the departure of a particularly strong leader.

Just as important though is the need for the firm to define both internally and externally the benchmarks on which it believes its success – and by extension that of its 'global' rivals – should be measured. The public war of words caused by Dentons' decision to abandon reporting profits per equity partner (PEP) this year provides a vivid example of the difficulties faced by this new class of law firm in this respect. 

Growth for growth's sake is easily achieved. But rankings based on headcount or revenue (either alone or combined) do not provide a proper measure of either a single firm's financial health or a proper comparison with its peers. Nor do they deal with the fact that, irrespective of what is published by those outside the firm, partners will neither join nor stay at a firm where profitability significantly falls behind its rivals'. That's why the challenge now for Norton Rose and its ilk is to prove that they are not just the biggest, but can also become the best.