Biglaw, Canada

The View From Up North: More Mergers Means Dentons Is Outgrowing 'Biglaw'

Based on Dentons' aggressive growth, we may have to revisit the concept of "Biglaw."

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Leave it to lawyers to take 10 months to finalize a deal. In January, international firm Dentons announced it was engaged to Chinese megafirm Dacheng. Recently, the two firms confirmed they had completed the nuptials. The new firm will be known as Dacheng (大成) in China and Dentons outside of China.

In addition to that merger, the newly married Dentons is now entering the world of Sister Wives by agreeing to take on not one, but two more spouses. Australia’s Gadens and Singapore’s Rodyk & Davidson have been enticed to join the growing Dentons family. The three love birds are scheduled to head to Vegas for a quickie, but tasteful wedding sometime in 2016.

Dentons claims on its website that, after Gadens and Rodyk consummate, the firm will own 7,300 lawyers in more than 130 locations worldwide — the biggest law firm in the known universe. More importantly, this is a huge Pacific Rim play. Some predict China will surpass the United States as the world’s largest economy in less than a decade. With a billion-plus-plus people, China will produce more and consume more than anybody else on the planet. Thus, it appears that Dentons is actually doing something — gasp — strategically clever for a law firm by combining with firms all over the Pacific Rim.

But, as always, The View From Up North wants to know how these mergers will affect the Canadian legal landscape. Seeking answers, I reached out to Chris Pinnington, Dentons’ Canada Chief Executive Officer. Here’s how he justified the series of marriages from a Canadian perspective:

This is about our clients. Our combination with 大成 [Dacheng] and all our moves are the result of listening to and following our clients—in Canada and around the world. We listen very carefully to understand where clients will need and want to invest and grow their businesses, and where their most promising opportunities will be. For Canada, China has become our second largest trading partner, with investments between businesses in both countries continuously rising. As we all know, China has undergone major changes over the past few decades, changes that have completely altered the country’s position in, and relationship with, the rest of the world; its size and population create a huge market with unparalleled potential. Concurrently, more Chinese businesses are pursuing growth opportunities beyond their borders and expanding operations throughout the world. Within all this activity, and of great importance to clients, there are significant sector synergies. China’s population has a burgeoning demand for energy, natural resources, agriculture, technology and service products; Canada has the resources and the skills to meet that demand; and our lawyers provide leading, on-the-ground experience and capabilities in those key sectors and drivers of the Canadian economy.

So, there you have it. Chris uses lots of great buzzwords, like “synergies” and “growth opportunities” and “drivers.” Reading between the buzz, presumably any Canadian business with ties to the Pacific Rim, and especially China, will look to Dentons as the law firm most connected in the region. Also, presumably, Chinese businesses looking to invest in Canada will seek out Dentons to provide advice on this side of the Pacific.

In the end, will this provide a strategic advantage to Dentons Canada? Will it launch Dentons past Norton Rose, who, in my opinion, is the top international firm with a real presence in Canada? Who knows? It’s going to take five years to figure out whether Dentons’ courting of the Far East will make any difference in the Canadian legal market.

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I will say, however, this series of mergers is pretty cool. I like that it actually looks strategic. That’s so rare for a law firm. Additionally, 7,300 freakin’ lawyers. That’s huge. Based on Dentons’ aggressive growth, we may have to revisit the concept of “Biglaw.” If the trend continues with Dentons and others, we might actually have to start calling it “Biggerlaw.”

That’s the View From Up North. Have a great week.

Steve Dykstra is a Canadian-trained lawyer and legal recruiter. He is the President of Steven Dykstra Law Professional Corporation, a boutique corporate/commercial law firm located in the greater Toronto area. You can contact Steve at [email protected]. You can also read his blog at stevendykstra.wordpress.com, follow him on Twitter (@Law_Think), or connect on LinkedIn (ca.linkedin.com/in/stevedykstra/).

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