Fasken Martineau LLP is merging with Johannesburg-based Bell Dewar and will become the Canadian law firm with the largest international footprint, the company announced yesterday.
The integration of the two firms is expected to be complete by February 2013.
The merger has been part of a long-term strategy for Fasken Martineau LLP, which first gained a Vancouver foothold around the turn of the century when it merged with what was then Vancouver’s largest law firm: Russell & DuMoulin.
In early 2007, the firm merged with U.K.-based Stringer Saul LLP to create one of the first full-service integrated Canadian-U.K. law firms.
Fasken representatives at the time told Business in Vancouver that the merger was part of the firm's growth strategy to provide more comprehensive services for its clients around the world. Another aspect of that merger was to provide Fasken with Stringer Saul’s expertise on the securities market of London Stock Exchange’s alternative investment market.
No one from Fasken was available by press time, but the firm stated in a release that the addition of the Bell Dewar team of lawyers, along with existing teams in Johannesburg, London, Paris and across Canada “provides us with an unrivalled based of talent and experience to bring to the African and world markets.”
