International legal practice Norton Rose, a leading international legal parctise with offices in Europe, Middle East and Latin America, has partnered with leading US law firm Fulbright & Jaworski to set up a gaint group, Norton Rose Fulbright.

The new firm, Norton Rose Fulbright, will have 3,800 lawyers and will be a top 10 global legal practice by gross revenue and by number of lawyers.

The enlarged practice will have 55 offices internationally, including 11 offices and close to 800 lawyers in the US, in Austin, Dallas, Denver, Houston, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, New York, Pittsburgh-Southpointe, San Antonio, St Louis and Washington D.C, said a statement from the new company. .
 
Norton Rose Fulbright will also have an office in Riyadh and additional strength in London, Dubai, Beijing, Hong Kong, and Munich, it added.
 
The practice will have expertise in litigation and dispute resolution, corporate, intellectual property and banking and finance, said the statement.

Peter Martyr will be the new global chief executive of Norton Rose Fulbright. The chair-elect of Fulbright, Ken Stewart, will serve as managing partner of the US operations and will take a senior position on its global executive committee.

The other Fulbright partners will also sit on the commitee. Norman Steinberg is the global chairman of Norton Rose.
 
By industry sector, Norton Rose Fulbright will occupy a market leading position in the areas of energy; pharmaceuticals and life sciences (including healthcare); financial institutions; infrastructure, mining and commodities; technology and transport.
 
Norton Rose Fulbright will also establish a global regulatory and investigations practice.
 
Commenting on the tieup, Peter Martyr, the chief executive, said, "The US legal market is the largest in the world and our combination will create a truly global practice with significant depth of expertise in the world’s principal business and financial centres."
 
“We have been looking at the US market for a number of years, seeking a firm that meets our requirements for excellence in law, good business synergies and a compatible culture. Fulbright & Jaworski meets all our criteria; it is financially strong, with forward-looking management and similar strategic growth aspirations,” he added.
 
Steven B. Pfeiffer, the chair of Fulbright & Jaworski’s executive committee, said, “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. We will be an international leader in providing seamless and superior client service.”
 
In his comments, Stewart said, "This is a smart combination of two groups whose geographic presence, capabilities and client service cultures are strongly complementary. The combined organisation can provide the experience, insight and service our clients need everywhere they do business around the world.”-TradeArabia News Service