We just read the following editorial from the Lawyer and it just set a few questions racing around ALE’s rather tiny brain.
Is really a good move to make the world’s largest law firms culturally allied with a legal system that essentially doesn’t respect the rights of the individual
Is it final proof that morality no longer lurks in any small crevice of the world’s largest commercial law firms
Does anybody care except naysayers like ALE
Why does the Lawyer say “Consolidation is reaching titanic levels in the Asia Pacific legal market.” Is this because they expect these deals to sink without a trace ?
Elite ‘red circle’ firms Zhong Lun and Jun He plot merger
What would be the impact of a merger between Clifford Chance and Linklaters? Or if Allen & Overy had successfully pursued plans to tie up with Freshfields, as it mooted back in 2006?
The Chinese legal market is on the cusp of such a monumental change, with top-tier firms Jun He and Zhong Lun in discussions about an alliance that would send ripples around the globe. Not least Jun He’s best friend Slaughter and May.
If talks escalate beyond the current due diligence stage a merger would inevitably have an impact on international referral relationships, with concerns raised over potential conflicting interests.
Yet the pros would almost certainly outweigh the cons. The merger would create a heavyweight Chinese firm with combined revenues of RMB1.83bn (£180m), beating both King & Wood Mallesons China, which posted revenues of RMB1.8bn last year, and Dacheng, where revenues were RMB1.6bn.
Consolidation is reaching titanic levels in the Asia Pacific legal market.
