NEW YORK, NY (CelebrityAccess MediaWire) — Greenberg Traurig LLP today announced it has established a strategic alliance with the nearly 300-lawyer London-based firm, Olswang, significantly strengthening its platform in the U.K. and Europe. The move follows similar announcements earlier this year with Studio Santa Maria covering Milan and Rome and with Hayabusa Kokusai Law Offices in Tokyo. Taken together, Greenberg Traurig's own offices and its international alliances represent a major move forward in the development of its global coverage.
In the most recent move, Greenberg Traurig aligns itself and its 1,400 lawyers with a well-regarded U.K. firm whose culture and practice areas well complement its own. Among the areas in which the firms are especially active are media, film, entertainment, communications, real estate, corporate, litigation and intellectual property. Together, they will be leaders in these key industries worldwide.
"By aligning with Olswang, we will be able to offer clients on both sides of the Atlantic a major platform in terms of size and resources, with a focus and understanding of core industries that are important to them," said Cesar Alvarez, President and Chief Executive Officer of Greenberg Traurig. "This follows our strategy of adding lawyers and resources for our clients without unnecessary risk to our firm culture."
"We've observed the results of others who've typically used the mega- merger or multi-mega-merger format to face the challenges of the highly competitive legal markets of the U.S. and the U.K., starting from one side or the other, but we have always followed our own instincts and found our own unique opportunities," said Richard A. Rosenbaum, the Managing Shareholder of Greenberg's 280-lawyer New York office and a National Operating Shareholder, whose role includes the firm's international development. "Just as we carefully built in New York and elsewhere, in London we patiently waited for the unique situation and structure we've found in Olswang, where we identified real cultural consistency and business synergy."
"In Olswang," Mr. Rosenbaum said, "we found a partner strikingly similar to Greenberg Traurig itself: a fast-growing, collaborative firm with business- oriented and empowered lawyers who focus on many of the same key industries as we do."
Olswang was recently recognized as a top employer in England in The Sunday Times 100 Best Companies to Work for 2005, and is the highest London law firm in that survey.
Mark Devereux, Olswang senior partner, comments, "The alliance will enable both firms to retain the individuality they both value, but in view of the striking similarities between the firms in terms of both culture and business focus, we are confident that this alliance will deliver real value to all clients."
Jonathan Goldstein, Chief Executive of Olswang, comments, "Throughout the course of discussions we found in each other like-minded business partners and look forward to the new international opportunities that we are confident will arise."
Greenberg Traurig was designated again last year as the fastest growing firm in the U.S. It now employs approximately 1,400 lawyers and governmental professionals overall, including more than 1,300 in the United States (the 4th largest U.S.-lawyer team), and maintains 31 locations overall, including 24 locations in the United States. As a result, the firm provides the broadest U.S. legal platform while also engineering a growing network of key locations around the globe. Greenberg Traurig's recent strategic expansion in the United States included new offices in Houston, Texas and Las Vegas, Nevada.
