美国律所翰宇最近与英国律所希文开始就两所跨大西洋合并事宜进行初步商讨。在亚洲工作的一些国际律师普遍认为亚洲的新兴市场，特别是大中华区法律市场的吸引力，是近期英美律所合并的驱动力之一。

两家律所表示在进行合伙人投票表决之前，尚有许多工作要做，但预计两家律所的合伙人投票都将在年底前完成。如果合并顺利进行，合并后的律所将拥有遍布17个国家的37间办事处及近1,300名律师，同时全球收入将达到6.25亿美元。在亚洲，合并后的律所将拥有80多位律师，且办公室将遍布北京、上海、香港和东京。

US firm Squire, Sanders & Dempsey and UK firm Hammonds have become the latest pair to discuss the possibility of a trans-Atlantic merger. The two firms said that much remains to be done before bring the merger to a partnership vote, but it is anticipated that partners in both firms will be asked to vote before the end of this year.

If a merger were to proceed, the combined firm would have 37 offices and around 1300 lawyers across 17 countries, while global revenues would top US$625m. And in Asia, the combined firm would have around 80 lawyers across offices in Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong and Tokyo.

The emerging Asian markets, particularly the growing importance of China's economy to the world, lead many international lawyers in the region to believe that Asia is a key driver in recent UK-US law firm mergers.

Rocky Lee, who recently left DLA Piper to become Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft's Asia managing partner, is one of the lawyers who hold this view. "I am led to believe that many of the mega US-UK law firm mergers are driven by the lure of Greater China," Lee said. "Many managing partners and legal consultants of these firms expect to see the Greater China legal market grow on a trajectory similar to that of China's GDP."

Earlier this year, Crispin Rapinet – Hogan Lovells managing partner for Asia and the Middle East – affirmed that one of the impetuses for the merger between Hogan & Hartson and Lovells was the growing importance of the Asia market, particularly that of China, and the long-term commitment of both firms to the region.  "Creating a global firm with a substantial presence and capability in the US and Europe is the obvious key rationale for the merger...but what we will achieve in Asia and what we can achieve through the merger is also a significant part of the rationale for doing the deal," said Rapinet.

However, a merger doesn't necessarily mean advantages. Several Asia managing partners of international firms, such as Eversheds' Nick Seddon, pointed out that they haven't seen any impact in Asia of the Hogan Lovells merger yet. Others note that the most visible and immediate effect has been significant headcount movement. "We've seen some well advertised departures from the merged firms. So this naturally has impacted Asia's relatively small legal market," said Lee.

Commenting on the Squire Sanders-Hammonds merger, Lee said that the proposed union should create synergies but the real question is whether the market has enough room for these mega global law firms to gain a distinct commercial advantage over their competitors, big or small. ALB

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