Barely into 2017 and it has already been an eventful year for verein-based law firms, with King & Wood Mallesons meeting a painful end in Europe while, in happy contrast, Norton Rose Fulbright (NRF) has just secured its second substantive US merger in the shape of Chadbourne & Parke.
The deal hands NRF 300 lawyers and a major upgrade to its Manhattan practice, which it certainly wanted and needed. Given the federal structure of NRF, the deal is primarily a merger within its US business, marrying the legacy Fulbright & Jaworski to a firm with complementary strengths across energy, projects and finance, nicely combining Fulbright’s Texas heartlands with Chadbourne’s New York base.
