Law Times

Law Times • February 2, 2015 Page 3 www.lawtimesnews.com Dentons vows smooth integration with Chinese law firm By Julius melniTzer For Law Times ultinational companies appear to be react- ing favourably to the late January merger of Dentons and Chinese firm Dacheng to create the world's largest law firm by lawyer headcount. "You can't ignore the fact that Dentons is now a meaningful player in all things Chinese," says Daniel Desjardins, the Montreal-based general counsel at Bom- bardier Inc. "We would surely take a closer look at them for any significant transaction involving China than we would have before the merger." But, Desjardins cautions, the extent to which the new firm's potential becomes a reality depends on how well the legacy firms integrate. "Dentons will have to spend the time and resources necessary to create the changes in firm image, cultures, and value that are essential to creating a seamless offer- ing worldwide," he says. "Doing that is a challenge in any merger, let alone one of this scope." The new firm, whose name embraces both legacy firms in a bilingual logo that carries the Dentons name and the Chinese characters for Dacheng, boasts 6,550 lawyers and professionals in 120 locations in 51 coun- tries. Some 4,000 of the lawyers come from Dacheng, which has 35 offices in each of China's 34 administrative districts and eight global outposts. When it comes to integration, however, Dentons' global chairman has a novel, if controversial, perspective on the issue. "We refute the idea that China is different," says Brit- ain-based Joe Andrew. As Andrew sees it, integrating the two firms is pri- marily a "mechanical" obstacle. "The challenge is in standardizing services and ratio- nalizing things like the conf lict-checking process and the IT systems," he says. "And we already have the framework of the required back-shop operations as a result of the merger that cre- ated Dentons in the first place." That merger involved SNR Denton, itself the product of a combination between a U.S. and British firm; Paris- based Salans; and Canada's Fraser Milner Casgrain LLP. "Culturally speaking, then, we're also set up to adapt," says Andrew. "But unlike other law firms, we see the differences as a strength and a market advantage and we're not set- ting out to make people the same or have them speak the same language." In other words, Dentons has every intention of con- tinuing with the polycentric approach that its leaders feel has worked well for them so far. "We have quite a bit of experience in bridging and building a law firm that is very much able to be cultural- ly diverse," says Elliott Portnoy, the firm's Britain-based global chief executive officer. Nor does Andrew have any concerns that the differ- ences in their approaches to business will make it diffi- cult for Chinese and western lawyers to work together seamlessly. "The realpolitik of how to do a deal ultimately be- comes nothing more than a marketing distinction," he says. "That's especially true in an Internet age where most people with a laptop can learn about the nature of a business in just a few clicks." It's also true that the practices of many Dacheng law- yers won't change markedly. "Only a few hundred of Dacheng's lawyers will be involved in international deals," says Tony Williams of Britain-based Jomati Consultants LLP, a global legal consultancy. "The rest will just continue with their do- mestic practices." As well, many of the younger generation of Chinese lawyers have trained in the West. "I would say that 80 to 90 per cent of the Dacheng lawyers who are under 35 are f luent in English," says An- drew. "In fact, it won't be that long before there will be more lawyers speaking English in China than anywhere else in the world." Finally, Dentons isn't new to China with 46 lawyers practising in Beijing, Shanghai, and Hong Kong before the merger with Dacheng. Quite apart from those considerations, the efficacy of the due-diligence process leading up to the merger is one reason why Andrew believes so strongly that integration efforts will be successful. "Dacheng was formed [in 1992] with the intent of op- erating on a best-practices basis, so it is more similar to western firms than other Chinese practices," he says. "As well, the firm has grown by merger and acquisition and, as such, has had to have fairly transparent economics." But some critics suggest there will be a limit to the possibilities for integration because the various firms in the Dentons mix won't be sharing profits; rather, they'll continue to operate on the Swiss Verein model, an ap- proach that allows member firms to join internationally under a single brand without sharing revenues or profits and thereby maintaining their independent status for li- ability and regulatory purposes. Not surprisingly, Andrew takes issue with that analy- sis. "If you use the Verein in its least integrated form, it is merely a tool to limit risk," he says. "But our goal is to be the most integrated of all Ver- eins." As a result, the firm will have a unified compensation system that recognizes partners for attracting work done internationally as well as domestically. "Our system creates an incentive to track and share work on a global basis," says Andrew. "It's an approach that leads to more seamless service for clients." However that may be, the merger with Dacheng sig- nificantly advances some of the thinking behind the Ca- nadian firm's combination with Dentons in 2013. "The desire to expand in a material way our outreach to the Chinese economy and the Chinese legal profes- sions was very much a part of our strategic focus when we joined Dentons," says Toronto-based Chris Pinning- ton, chief executive officer of Dentons Canada LLP. LT NEWS M Jameel Ibn Khalid Abdul Baasit Ruslana Abrishami Fareeda Ramat Adam Uzodinma Stanley Aghaegbuna Aida Aghajan Anoshan Presantha Ahangama Merenjige Nicholas Fouad Ajram Barbara Alexander Amir Hatem Mahdy Ali Arif Alibhai Darra Prashant Alleear Ahmad Ammar Daniel Anisfeld Harsimrat Kaur Aujla Julian Mohammed Awwad Rasaq Jimoh Ayanlola Abdelouahab Azzouzi Haider Bahadur Kenneth Rodrigues Bandeira Cecilia Adlin Abena Barnes Sarah Jane Beckerman Jagdish Singh Bedi Carlynne Sarah Bell Sarah Berger Richardson Clifford John Blundell Clifford Shawn Blundell Christopher Ryan Bodnar James Douglas Stewart Bowie Scott Martin Buchanan Hilary Gwyneth Richardson Burn Dudley Keri Christine Burton Despina Nectaria Cadieux Graham Alan Caithness Jessica Cardill Nicole Jennifer Cardin Simerjot Singh Chahal Aubrey Dawn Charette Alexandra Dawn Ciobotaru Chelsey Jennifer Cook Chantal Maryse Cormier Stéphane Alex Maxime Côté Sasha Kiran Cragg-Gore Amanda Friis Dam Esme Davies Peter Edward Henry Dawson Ravinder Pal Singh Dhaliwal Aman Dhillon Jessica Anne Diab Timothy Alan Duffy Jitewa Edu Alan Ashley John Faéorin-Cruich Ali Farahmand Borojeni Hamid Farooq Laura Anne Faryna Evonne Emma Finnegan Alexandra Forsyth-Sells James Emilio Gambin Blessing Nnagud Gana Vikas Gautam Markus Wilhelm Gehring Matthew Gabriel Gianotti Dango Gogo Kimberly Nadine Gordon Theresa Jean Gosbee Sarah Greenhalgh Manjinder Singh Grewal Rupinder Pal Ka Grewal Sharnveer Kaur Grewal Rachel Catherine Harmsworth Thomas Menees Hart IV Christopher Stefan Carr Hendry Nicholas George Hersh Jamie Logan Elizabeth Hitchon Timothy Shiu-Tim Ho Eli Benjamin Hoffman Andriy Michael Holuk Senai Adulis Iman Melody Izadi Molly Emilia Esbenshade Joeck Sumeena Kaur Jolly Shaheem Ahmed Joya Derek Henricus Georgios Petrus Ketelaars Mira Khalid Vahideh Khalili Michael Kholodenko Benita Ann King Caroline Gertrude Klinkhoff Joseph Matthew Kositsky Rukhsana Kousar Robert Stanley Kraska Joanna Kristina Kyriazis Lavinia Lahrese Latham Daniel Richard Lawlor Barbara Ruth Leiterman Yan Liu Kenneth George Lobo Kristi Fe Mari Lu Mark Anthony Luz Vikas Madaan Parneet Malhi Sharmila Kaur Manak Parush Mann Pramothidan Mitranandan Dilshad Mohamed Jordi Emanuel Montblanch Tamara May Moore Charles Christian Francis Morey Dmitry Morozov Jacob Moses Ira Murad Anneli Maret Must Pedram Najafi Tuyetnhi Nguyen Heidi Nicole Njegovan Nathaniel Theodore Oelsner Olatunde Michae Okedara Kingsley Uwakhonye Okosun Helena Catherine Nancy O'Malley Roxanne Stephane Ouellette Samipkumar Chandulal Oza Munish Pabby Benito Francis Palomino Nishant Patel Shraya Patel Maximilian William McLeod Paterson Trevor Hallman Pearse Christopher John Perez Aruna Renae Persaud Timothy Andrew Phillips Elizabeth Rosaldo Quinto Ranjit Kaur Rai Jordan Samuel Reiner Juan Pablo Rincón Castro Robert Luther Ritter Rebecca Elizabeth Rosenstock John Paul Stefan Ruddy Rexinder Singh Sangha Lawrence Andrew Schwartz Charles George Serapio Jeffrey Richard Seymour Supriya Sharma Anna Kathleen Sheedy Elisabeth Amy Sheppard Maya Shukairy Thomas Mark Sieber Tarun Preet Singh Nevdeap Singh Khangura Sarika Singodia Peter Harold Smiley Jill Simpson Snelgrove Mark Walter Marinoff Snider Joshua Ryan Stark Kanwardip Singh Sukhija Yuen Kei Tai Sweta Tejpal Natasha Fay Thoren Adrian Mark Thorogood Chetan Tiwari Stephen John Toope Ashleigh Lauranne Tomlinson Cindy Nhi Tran David Vago Sameena Velshi Gian Paolo Vescio Markandu Saravanamuttu Vigneswaran Roshni Bhushan Vora Nooruddin Waliani Matthew Gordon Ward Sam Tait Warriner Ahmed Sohaib Waseem Melanie Anne Williams Carissa Michelle Wong Yi Fei Wu Cornelia Oi-Yin Yeung Nazareth Yirgalem Albert Hyun Yoon Caroline Patricia Youdan Ali Zaidi Megen Louise Zelinka David Adam Ziegler Stephanie Megan Zucker Law Times congratulates the 180 new lawyers called to the bar on Jan. 23. The ceremony included the awarding of an honorary doctor of laws degree to Ontario Court of Appeal Justice Karen Weiler. "The law society is extremely pleased to honour Justice Weiler for her dedication to improving access to justice for litigants in need and her commitment to com- bating discrimination in society," said law society Treasurer Janet Minor in announcing the honour. Source: Law Society of Upper Canada

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