In an exclusive meeting with Businessday, ACAS-Law announced that it would be combining with Dentons, the largest law firm in the world, from April 1, 2021.
At the meeting was the global chairman of Dentons, Joseph Andrew; Dentons CEO, for the African region, Noor Kapdi; managing partner of ACAS-LAW, Felicia Kemi Segun; Dentons global director of communications, Astrid EgertonVernon, among others.
After growing substantially across the world since the firm was created in a 2013 three-way merger, Dentons has been intentional about its aspirations to establish operations in the fast-growing African market. Dentons has over 20,000 people in 204 offices across the world and is the largest firm in terms of size.
From a big picture perspective, Denton’s aim with this combination is to form the first truly Pan-African law firm; owned and controlled by Africans on the continent, a vision that deviates from the influence and history of colonialism. Dentons already have a significant presence in African, with 15 locations across the continent.
Joe Andrew, global chair of Dentons, acknowledged the close, long-standing relationship they have had over the years with ACAS-LAW. He explained that this relationship gave them a first-hand understanding of their excellence in quality of legal service, clients’ sophistication, and personnel talent.
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He declared that it was indeed an honour that ACAS decided their futures were better together.
Noor Kapdi, from his oversight of the African region, recognised Nigeria as one of the hottest legal markets and praised ACAS-LAW as not only talented but leaders in their industry.
Managing partner Kemi Segun speaking on behalf of ACAS-LAW, expressed her excitement about the new frontiers the combination could open. She stated, “We see the Dentons proposition as a platform to launch into the next phase of practice where we leave behind the much-travelled road of internalising growth to within the borders of our country and, moving to expand our horizons beyond our region and continent. It’s about looking further than the eye can see and not being afraid to take that chance to do something different from the norm.
So, in view of this, we are following the strategy of businesses, organisations and nations in the 21st century, and it’s no longer about just isolating ourselves; it’s about aligning with the growth track and the expansion of the world systems. It’s about taking advantage of the opportunity to attain global relevance with systems that make us more efficient.
