New Global Firm—SNR Denton—Would Combine Sonnenschein and Denton Wilde
Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal chairman Elliott Portnoy is set to take on a bigger job—as co-CEO of a new firm that combines Sonnenschein and London-based law firm Denton Wilde Sapte.
The new firm, if approved by the partnerships, will be called SNR Denton and will have 1,400 lawyers and fee earners in 18 countries, according to a press release. The combination would make SNR Denton one of the world’s top 25 law firms.
Portnoy would share CEO duties with Denton CEO Howard Morris. A partnership vote is scheduled for June 9 and the merger would occur Sept. 30.
The announcement follows the May 1 trans-Atlantic merger of Washington, D.C.-based Hogan & Hartson and London-based Lovells. The new Hogan Lovells is also presided over by co-CEOs.
Portnoy was in the news in 2008 when Sonnenschein acquired about 100 lawyers from Thacher Proffitt & Wood before its dissolution. At the time, Portnoy said the firm’s strategic plan launched in 2006 calls for increasing the scale of Sonnenschein and the scope of the services it provides.
The combined firm will focus on eight key sectors: financial institutions and funds; energy, transport and infrastructure; insurance; real estate, retail and hotels; technology, media & telecommunications; health and life sciences; manufacturing; and government.
In the press release announcing the merger, Portnoy said the combination is “the next step in our vision to create an elite, client-focused international firm that is about one thing—quality.”
Portnoy told the American Lawyer that Sonnenschein had initial merger discussions with other law firms in the United Kingdom, but they never amounted to anything serious. Sonnenschein had just two offices outside the United States, in Brussels and Zurich, and the firm recognized it needed something more to compete on a global scale, he said.
Sonnenschein started talking to Denton late last year, and discovered a natural fit, Portnoy told the publication. Denton has nine offices in the Middle East and Africa and one in Singapore. Sonnenschein and Denton had also worked together before, on a Chapter 11 case, and Thacher lawyers that moved to Sonnenschein had also worked with Denton.
Are other mega-mergers in the works? The London Times recently suggested that more U.S. law firms are looking to expand overseas. One London firm said to be exploring a merger is SJ Berwin; one of its potential partners is reportedly Proskauer Rose.
Reports from last June had Denton Wilde Sapte exploring a merger with a different law firm—Squire Sanders & Dempsey. Denton chief executive Morris wouldn’t confirm the potential suitor at the time, but he did say the firm was open to a merger with a U.S.-based firm.
