Norton Rose Making Headlines for All the Right Reasons

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A few years back, law firm Norton Rose made headlines when five employees circulated some reveling emails which obviously brought some embarrassment to the company. Now over ten years later the law firm is in the headlines for all the right reasons. It was recently announced that they would be merging with law firm of Macleod Dixon, a law firm with 250 lawyers, which is bound to spread both companies further than either could have done on their own.

Currently it is expected that this merger should take place in January of 2012. This is not the first time Norton Rose has expanded their brand, they have also made a global impact with firms in Austria and South Africa. Even with this company branching out globally it still isn’t certain if Norton Rose will ever make their way in to the U.S. Market, Norton Rose’s Chef Executive Officer recently joked when asked if they would be bringing the law firm to the U.S. “I said it would take about two-to-five years about two-to-five years ago” he also stated not joking this time, “But while being in the U.S. is imperative, the timing is not”

  

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This merger with Macleod Dixon is helping Norton Rose expand itself globally beyond Australia and South Africa, currently Macleod Dixon has offices in Brazil, Columbia, Russia  just to name a few. This merger was needed to help expand both law firms on a more global scale. Managing partner of Macleod Dixon, W.H. “Bill” Tuer said “that his firm was keen on establishing itself on a global platform through a merger with Norton Rose”.

When W.H. “Bill” Tuer and John Coleman, a former Ogilvy partner who now serves as managing partner of Norton Rose, were asked about the legacy of these two law firm finally coming together neither tried to deny that they created some sort of a “super firm” with over 700 lawyers in Canada alone, and much roughly 2,500 lawyers around the world. CEO Peter Martyr has made it no secret that he would eventually like Norton Rose to expand the company globally, he plans to do this by following the template of many accounting firms who have spread their business internationally.

The plan is according to Martyr is “pulling existing high-quality businesses together” into large localized operations—like a Norton Rose Canada or Norton Rose South Africa—to create “big centers of gravity” without one centralized hub. With Martyr so set on creating a global brand its almost guaranteed that the United States will not be far off his, even if it’s not for another 3-5 years.

“As for Norton Rose, Martyr says that the firm will continue using the template provided by many of the large global accounting firms in becoming an international player. Martyr says that entails “pulling existing high-quality businesses together” into large localized operations—like a Norton Rose Canada or Norton Rose South Africa—to create “big centers of gravity” without one centralized hub.”