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Proskauer hitch fails to dent SJ Berwin’s American dream

@Anonymous | 7-Jun-2011 12:43 pm My money is on Fried Frank. They are really weak in the UK and their key UK corporate partner has just left to go to Milbank. FF were pretty close to merging with Ashurst a few years ago if I recall, so they are on the lookout. SJ Berwin adds up from an FF point of view because it is like a US firm merging with a European firm. SJ Berwin are strong in UK where FF have nothing - corporate / litigation and comp / property finance. FF are one of strongest property firms in US so can you imagine if they linked with David Ryland's team. FF would bring some major US finance clients to the table for SJ and then would be able to get them to hand over more UK work which currently goes to MC firms (e.g. GS / Morgan Stanley / JPMorgan). If this happened it would dent MC firms big time and there is a case for saying that SJ Frank would be a beast of a firm.

7-Jun-2011

1:22 pm