Less than two weeks ago, Ashurst voted to fully merge the partners from the former Blake Dawson into its global partnership. Though the British and Australian firms announced their tie-up two years ago and the latter adopted the former’s brand, they had held off on a financial integration.
For many years, the difficulty of integrating hundreds of Australian lawyers was a frequently cited reason for why U.K. firms would likely avoid mergers Down Under. And, indeed, most British firms that have pushed into the market in recent years have sidestepped the issue by adopting verein structures, merging with small firms, or launching standalone offices.
