Dentons has officially launched its free-to-use Nextlaw Global Referral Network, signing up 291 firms to make the largest referral network by firm count in the world.
The network now has access to more than 19,000 lawyers in more than 160 countries. Scottish firms MacRoberts and Lindsays both joined, as well as offshore firms Ogier, Appleby, Carey Olsen and Walkers and more than 70 US firms.
The referral network was first announced in May 2015. Dentons said it differs from ‘pay-to-play’ legal referral networks by not charging membership fees or offering territorial exclusivity.
Other membership-based platforms represent more lawyers at fewer firms. Lex Mundi has around 160 law firms representing around 21,000 lawyers, while TerraLex has more than 150 firms with around 19,000 lawyers.
Any firm in the world is able to apply for membership of the network and applicants are vetted by a panel of Dentons partners, partners of other member firms and general counsel. Applicants are evaluated on client feedback, third-party rankings, awards and sector expertise.
Speaking to Legal Business, Dentons global chair Joe Andrew said there were around 180 other firms currently in the vetting process and that referrals had already begun between the members.
‘There are more than 19,000 lawyers around the world that we can contact at the touch of a button.’
However, other legal networks that operate paid-for membership models have criticised Nextlaw. In June, TerraLex chief executive Harry Trueheart publicly questioned the vetting process that would go into the free network.
However, Andrew responded: ‘Existing firms are still vetted and rated by the firms involved. They constantly evaluate and rate them. It’s not just “you are in and you stay in”.’
He added the network, combined with Dentons’ global reach as the largest law firm in the world by lawyer headcount, would allow them to refer work to regions where they do not yet have a global presence. ‘We are now able to collaborate with all these firms and more than 19,000 lawyers around the world that we can contact at the touch of a button,’ he said.
Andrew also confirmed that there were a number of other UK firms involved in the network that had chosen not to go public.
matthew.field@legalease.co.uk