By Nate Raymond

Houston-based law firm Fulbright & Jaworski said Wednesday that it had reached an agreement to merge with London's Norton Rose in an arrangement that will create a 3,800-lawyer global law firm.

The deal, expected to be completed by June 2013, would create a firm with 55 offices worldwide. It will be called Norton Rose Fulbright.

"Fulbright's combination with Norton Rose will expand our global platform and enable us to provide an even broader range of services to our clients," said Steven Pfeiffer, chair of Fulbright & Jaworski's executive committee, in a statement.

The combined firm would be headed by Peter Martyr, Norton Rose's global chief executive. In a statement, Martyr said Norton Rose had been looking to enter the U.S. market for several years.

"Fulbright & Jaworski meets all our criteria; it is financially strong, with forward-looking management and similar strategic growth aspirations," he said.

The merger is the latest for Norton Rose, which is organised as a Swiss Verein, where global offices operate independently. In 2011, Norton Rose merged with Canada's Ogilvy Renault and South Africa's Deneys Reitz. In January, Norton Rose merged with another Canadian law firm, Macleod Dixon.

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