Global firm will also shutter its consulting practice, which combines legal and advisory services
A&O Shearman – the global firm resulting from the merger of London-based Allen & Overy LLP and New York-based Shearman & Sterling LLP – has announced that it will reduce its partnership by 10 percent and close its office in Johannesburg, South Africa.
The merger between the U.S. and U.K. firms, effective last May 1, created one of the biggest transatlantic law firm combinations in years, said an article by Reuters.
The combined firm, A&O Shearman, earns approximately US$3.5 billion in total revenues and employs around 800 partners and almost 4,000 lawyers across over 40 offices around the globe, Reuters noted.
The planned reduction is expected to take place by the end of the firm’s fiscal year, which is next April, the article said. The reduction aims to address overlaps and to create opportunities for the promotion and hiring of partners in areas with potential for growth, according to A&O Shearman.
The firm expects to close its Johannesburg office by the end of this year, Reuters reported. The office, which was established in 2014, currently has 32 employees consisting of partners, counsel, knowledge counsel, senior associates, associates, and directors, according to A&O Shearman’s website.
The Johannesburg team works closely with the firm’s other lawyers in London, Paris, and Casablanca, the website stated. The legal team offers African and international clients advice in the areas of corporate, M&A, finance, tax, projects, and dispute resolution matters. The team’s work covers the industries of banking, energy, infrastructure, and mining in South Africa and across sub-Saharan Africa.
Hervé Ekué, A&O Shearman’s managing partner, said in a recent statement that A&O Shearman did not take this decision lightly, given that the changes announced were expected to impact its people, Reuters said. Ekué stressed that the firm remained confident about its prospects moving forward despite this “difficult but necessary” change, Reuters added.
The firm has also chosen to shutter its consulting practice, which covers combined legal and advisory services, the article said. While its priorities have shifted, the firm will keep extending its services to clients based in that region, according to A&O Shearman.
