Dentons said to be on the merger trail again - with McKenna Long

The world's largest legal practice by headcount, Dentons Dachang, is said - by various sources - to have re-opened talks with McKenna Long & Aldridge in the US, two years after a proposed combination fell apart.

With 6,500 lawyers, Dentons Dacheng has 54 per cent more lawyers than the next biggest firm, Baker & McKenzie (about 4,200). If the McKenna Long combination went along and added the full McKenna team of 575 lawyers, the resulting practice would have 7,075 lawyers - some 68 per cent more than Baker & McKenzie.

No comment

However, neither firm has confirmed - or denied - the renewed discussions. McKenna Long chair Jeff Haidet said: 'We are regularly engaged in discussions with many firms about a wide variety of relationships...[ as part of the firm’s growth strategy].We cannot comment on any of these discussions, as doing so would be premature.' Source: ABA