Dentons Continues Global Expansion With New Zealand Merger
The pending combination with Kensington Swan will add 113 lawyers and offices in Wellington and Auckland to the global legal giant.
July 31, 2019 at 12:55 AM
3 minute read
Dentons has announced that it will merge with a leading New Zealand law firm as it continues its global expansion.
The proposal to merge with 113-lawyer Kensington Swan will set Dentons up in both Wellington and Auckland and make it the largest global law firm in New Zealand from the outset, the firm said. Dentons said it already has more than 10,000 lawyers globally.
Kensington Swan is a full-service commercial law firm and is strong in financial markets, infrastructure and government practices. It also specialises in the environment, education, fast-moving consumer goods, manufacturing, health care and energy sectors, according to a statement from Dentons.
"Clients have explicitly identified the New Zealand market as a priority and this combination would see the firms able to meet client needs in New Zealand and around the globe", said Elliott Portnoy, the Washington, D.C.-based global chief executive officer of Dentons, in a statement.
"Combining with a leading law firm like Kensington Swan in New Zealand will continue Dentons' momentum in Australasia, enabling Dentons to, once again, maintain and improve its quality even as it grows".
The two firms will officially combine in the next several months, following the partners' vote and regulatory approvals.
Dentons first expanded into the region in 2016 by taking Australian firm Gadens' offices in Sydney, Perth and Port Moresby. The firm said that along with its existing offices in Australia and Papua New Guinea, the New Zealand combination "strengthens the foundation for Dentons to become the dominant global law firm in Australasia".
"With Australia and New Zealand being such close economies, the combination with a leading law firm like Kensington Swan would enable greater coordination across the region for the benefit of clients", said Doug Stipanicev, Dentons' Perth-based Australia chairman and chief executive officer.
The two countries have had a free-trade agreement in place since 1983 and Australia is New Zealand's second-largest export market after China.
"The combination with Dentons will mean that Kensington Swan is the New Zealand law firm with the greatest access to top-tier legal talent, and in the most locations, worldwide", said David Campbell, the Auckland-based board chairman of Kensington Swan.
Global law firms have only a limited presence in New Zealand. DLA Piper has offices in Auckland and Wellington, and MinterEllisonRuddWatts, an affiliate to the Australian firm, also operates in both cities.
So far this year, Dentons has announced combinations in Zimbabwe, Chile and Venezuela.
|Related Stories:
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
Linklaters Sees Latest Partner Exit as UK Leveraged Finance Partner Walks To Simpson Thacher
2 minute read
Ex-Dewey & LeBoeuf Banking Lawyer on Trial in Germany’s Cum-Ex Tax Scandal
DLA Piper & Hogan Lovells Expand German Construction and Property Practices
2 minute read
White & Case, Cleary Among Firms Gearing Up for Biggest London IPO Since 2022
3 minute readTrending Stories
- 1The State of Cost Recovery — Post COVID
- 2Why Is It Becoming More Difficult for Businesses to Mandate Arbitration of Employment Disputes?
- 3The Whys and Hows of a Mediator’s Proposal
- 4Litigators of the Week: A Trade Secret Win at the ITC for Viking Over Promising Potential Liver Drug
- 5Litigator of the Week Runners-Up and Shout-Outs
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
