Silver Circler comes together with US giant
London-headquartered Ashurst and US firm Perkins Coie have announced plans to merge, creating a top-20 global law firm, Ashurst Perkins Coie.
The combined outfit will have a whopping 3,000 lawyers across 52 offices in 23 countries, and is expected to generate $2.7 billion (£2.05 billion) in revenue when the merger goes live next year.
The transatlantic tie-up follows two similar high profile UK-US mergers: Allen & Overy’s coming together with Shearman & Sterling to form A&O Shearman in 2023, and Herbert Smith Freehills’ combination with Kramer Levin earlier this year.
Corporate law’s latest marriage brings together Ashurst’s expertise in cross-border transactions, energy, infrastructure and financial services, with Perkins Coie’s strength in technology, IP, litigation and fintech. The two firms are also talking up their synergies around AI and innovation.
The tie-up also marks an interesting turn for Perkins Coie amidst its troubles with the Trump administration. In March, the US President issued an executive order targeting the firm over its past representation of Hillary Clinton — a move Perkins Coie successfully challenged in court. The government has since confirmed it will appeal the ruling.
The new firm won’t have a head office but rather be based around “flagship hubs” in key cities such as London, Seattle and New York, as well as Sydney where Ashurst has a major presence following its 2010 merger with Aussie firm Blake Dawson.
Ashurst currently offers 38 training contracts in London, while Perkins Coie had a low-key London trainee programme offering around 4 training contracts a year. Ashurst pays rookies £140,000 as newly qualified (NQ) solicitors, while Legal Cheek understands Perkins Coie pays NQs at the market topping rate of £180k. No statement has yet been made about Ashurst Perkins Coie’s future trainee intake numbers or salaries.
Leadership will be shared between Perkins Coie’s Bill Malley and Ashurst’s Paul Jenkins as global co-CEOs.
Bill Malley, Firm Managing Partner, Perkins Coie, said:
“Perkins Coie has a proud history of partnering with the world’s most innovative companies, helping them grow, and growing alongside them, which has underpinned our strong financial performance in recent years […] Ashurst complements our geographic reach and capabilities and shares our ambition to build a firm defined by ingenuity and collaboration. Together, we will combine resources and expertise to accelerate growth and set new standards for world-class legal service.”
Paul Jenkins, Global CEO, Ashurst, said:
“Our ambition for many years has been to grow in the U.S. with the right partner: a firm with deep, trusted expertise that complements our own. We have now found that partner – Perkins Coie is an ambitious, forward-thinking law firm meeting its clients at the forefront of technological change […] With Ashurst’s established global presence and sector expertise, and both firms’ reputations for challenging the status quo, I am confident Ashurst Perkins Coie will be a leading advisor across the key industries – technology, energy and infrastructure, and financial services – which are shaping the future of the global economy.”
The merger remains subject to partner approval and standard closing conditions, with an estimated completion date of autumn 2026. Until then, both firms will continue to operate independently.
This may actually work out. Opportunistic by Ashurst and something of a gamble but could prove shrewd.
Stop the press – “Anon” on LegalCheek thinks this merger “may actually work out”. The executive board has convened an urgent meeting to discuss this fascinating, incisive comment. They’re patting themselves on their backs, celebrating the fact that, by God, their gamble “could prove shrewd”. The Americans are flying over for further discussions on this development post haste.
A&O Shearman’s trainee numbers now down at 80. Legacy Allen & Overy had 100. Legacy Shearman had 15 or so. Are these mergers partial cover to refocus on the more lucrative US market?
Trainee numbers – sorry, trainees in general – are item 763 on the agenda when these discussions are taking place.. back to the textbooks chap
At least it’s interesting… and makes more sense than HSF x Kramer so there’s that (low bar).
Why does HSF Kramer not make sense? From the outside, it seems like a pretty logical way for HSF to get a US foothold with no real risk or disruption, as Kramer had nothing anywhere else. Just wondering, not arguing!
what does this mean for Perkins Coie London?
There’s like a dozen of them – don’t think they’ll be much of a factor.
Same, I think they might end up being overtaken by Ashurst in London, and the opposite might happen in the US.
Tying two rocks together does not make them float in water.
That is a hilarious thing to say about two businesses with levels of profitability that most firms/companies would die for.
Hi Ashurst PR team.
😂✊💦
Thoughts on PC – decent shop? Which practice groups does this benefit?
Good luck to them both, but this shows how far the UK elite have fallen globally.
I’m old enough to remember that back in the day, Ashurst (stupidly) refused to merge with Latham and Watkins, largely due to fussy, stuck-up, English corporate partners who believed they were part of an elite English corporate law club (along with Freshfields and Slaughters). They didn’t think that Latham had pedigree.
Fast forward 20 years, and Latham won’t given Ashurst a second glance, and the all of the UK focussed firms have fallen behind globally, largely mirroring the fate of UK plc globally. Look at Slaughters, the firm perhaps most attached to UK plc. It’s not a patch on what it once was.
I’d never heard of Perkins before this announcement. I’m sure a perfectly okay shop but by no means a real force in the top tier of the US legal market.
I have never left a comment before, but I fully agree and find your comment (sadly) particularly relevant.
While true, not every firm is going to be Latham, Kirkland, Simpson etc.
Ashurst Perkins Coie will be in that tier below, the Forests, Villas, Portos, Romas and Lyons of the world. Not everyone can be Real Madrid.
The point the poster is making I think is that Ashurt missed the boat
…. And doing so was a huge strategic error fuelled by snobbery.
Also completely agree that not everyone can be a City or Real Madrid. But Ashurt and Perkins are not a Villa, Porto, or Roma either.
…More like a Nottingham Forest.
It’s not an obvious combination, and it’s not one which I think Ashurst would have entered into if they’d had any better deals available. Yes it provides a day-1 platform for Ashurst to build in the US, but I’m struggling to imagine how they propose to cross-sell and integrate given that Ashurst’s main offering is infrastructure, energy and banking (which PC isn’t exactly known for in any market). And I don’t see the legacy Ashurst business (i.e. in London and APAC) pivoting away from those core money-spinners any time soon.
How do you pronounce that? Cooee?
Like Wenger said everyone has the most beautiful wife at home.
Seems same snobbery now applies to yoir views tbh.
Ashurst and Perkins are talent focused and need develop an academy. Maybe time for people to admire that approach that fantasise over mythical guarantees!
Maybe it will become a sustainable version of Success. Lot of firepower now so maybe Dortmund or Bayern are better examples of what the combination should aspire to be.
Not sure standing still is an option now