Dentons, McKenna Long & Aldridge Moving Forward with Merger

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Summary: Although a previous merger failed between the two firms, Dentons and McKenna Long & Aldridge may be combining after all.

Just over a year after a possible merger between Dentons and McKenna Long & Aldridge failed, the two major firms are seeking to merge again, the American Lawyer reports.

  

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Read about the failed merger here.

McKenna Long’s partnership is close to voting on a tie-up with Dentons. The two firms had discussed a deal during the fall of 2013, but a vote that was to be held right before Thanksgiving was stopped due to growing opposition by partners in McKenna Long’s government contracts practice. A two-third majority of the firms’ equity partnership must approve deals.

In January, Dentons acquired a New York boutique and announced a merger using the Swiss verein structure with Dacheng, a massive law firm in China. The combined firm is the world’s largest by attorney head count.

Read about the merger with Dacheng here.

A spokeswoman for Dentons said, “With a historic combination announced and record revenue and profit growth in the U.S. and other regions still fresh, this is an exciting time for Dentons. The market is taking note—with 18 new partners joining the firm thus far this year—and we are focused on taking advantage of and continuing that positive momentum through 2015 and beyond. In that context, while we enjoy strong relationships with many law firms around the world and we are always exploring ways to enhance our already exceptional client service, we never comment on rumors about specific discussions.”

A spokesperson for McKenna Long also said, “Last year, we shared our firm’s plan to pursue strategic growth—growth that supports our desire to expand in designated practice areas and in key financial centers. As part of that process we are regularly engaged in discussions with many firms about a wide variety of relationships. We cannot comment on any of these discussions, as doing so would be premature.” Wikipedia notes that McKenna has close to 600 attorneys in 15 offices and 13 markets.

McKenna added two top government contracts attorneys to its Los Angeles office in September.

Jeffrey Haidet, the chairman for McKenna Long, said that the firm needed to expand its global footprint back in June. Since the firms previously came close to a merger, the attorney head count has dropped by more than one-fifth, and the firm has lost 60 partners. Last year, the firm had 518 attorneys.

The firm also hired retired United States Representative Bill Owens as a part-time adviser. Owens formerly managed a small law firm in New York that bordered Canada, and he was brought onto McKenna Long to increase the firm’s ties to clients in Canada.

In the last year, a 10-lawyer group left McKenna Long to join Sheppard, Mullin, Hampton & Richter in San Diego, and a 21-attorney toxic tort group left for Polsinelli in Los Angeles and San Francisco.

McKenna Long was formed in 2002 through a merger between Long Aldridge Norman and McKenna & Cuneo. Dentons adopted SNR Denton as its name in 2010 after a merger between Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal and Denton Wilde Sapte, a British Firm. Just three years later, it merged with Fraser Milner Casgrain and Salans. According to Wikipedia, it has 120 offices in 52 countries, and has 6,500 attorneys on its roster.

Source: American Lawyer

Photo credit: manofdepravity.com, dailyreportonline (Haidet), timesunion.com (Owens)