Denton Wilde Sapte
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Headquarters | London, United Kingdom |
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No. of offices | 12 (plus 4 associate offices) |
No. of lawyers | 610 (2010)[1] |
No. of employees | 1,413 (2010)[1] |
Major practice areas | General practice |
Revenue | £167.5 million (2010)[1] |
Profit per equity partner | £360,000 (2010)[1] |
Date founded | 1 February 2000 (London) |
Company type | Limited liability partnership |
Dissolved | 30 September 2010 |
Denton Wilde Sapte LLP (informally Dentons) was an international law firm headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It merged with the U.S.-based law firm Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal in September 2010, forming SNR Denton. At the time of the merger, Denton Wilde Sapte employed around 610 lawyers and had 16 offices.
History
The firm was created on February 1, 2000 by a merger between City of London law firms Denton Hall and Wilde Sapte which created (at the time) the UK's 11th largest law firm measured by revenues.[2] Denton Hall Burgin was established in 1788 by Sam Denton. Thomas Wilde founded what was to become Wilde Sapte with partner Samuel Archer Hussey in 1785.
In September 1988 Anthony Alexander, the Senior Partner of City law firm Herbert Oppenheimer Nathan & Vanayk, joined Denton Hall Burgin & Warren along with 17 partners and 62 other lawyers. With other partners deserting the firm in droves, Herbert Oppenheimer Nathan & Vanayk dissolved shortly afterwards. Denton Hall was a co-founder of the international alliance of law firms, Denton International, which was dissolved on 31 December 2003 after the partnership of German member Heuking Kühn Lüer Wojtek voted against a merger with Denton Wilde Sapte.[3]
Denton Wilde Sapte's focus on emerging market locations enabled it to become one of the largest law firm in the Middle East, the biggest international firm in Central Asia, and one of very few international law firms in Cairo, Istanbul, Kuwait and Muscat. Its Cairo and Dubai offices were two of the longest running practices in the region, having been established in 1964 and 1969 respectively. The Abu Dhabi and Muscat offices followed in 1981, and at the time of its merger with Sonnenschein its Middle East network comprised eight offices.
In 2004 and 2005 the firm suffered a significant number of partner defections to rival firms,[4] including of a group of 11 technology, media and telecoms partners who defected to DLA Piper in 2004.[5] It converted from a partnership to a limited liability partnership on 1 November 2006.[6]
On 26 May 2010 Denton Wilde Sapte and the United States-based law firm Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal announced their intention to merge.[7] On 30 September 2010 the merger between Denton Wilde Sapte and Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal was formally completed, establishing SNR Denton.[8]
Main practice areas
Denton Wilde Sapte's main practice areas included:
- Energy, transport and infrastructure;
- Financial institutions;
- Real estate and retail;
- Technology, media and telecoms.
Offices
At the time of its merger with Sonnenschein, Denton Wilde Sapte employed over 600 lawyers and had 16 offices spanning four regions:
Europe: Istanbul, London, Milton Keynes, Paris. Middle East: Abu Dhabi, Amman (associate firm), Doha, Dubai, Kuwait (associate firm), Muscat, Riyadh (associate firm). CIS: Almaty, Ashgabat (associate firm), Moscow, St Petersburg (associate firm), Tashkent. South East Asia: Singapore. Africa: In addition to the Cairo office, Denton Wilde Sapte also operated an associate network of local firms in Algeria, Burundi, Ghana, Kenya, Libya, Mauritius, Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia.
See also
- List of 100 largest law firms
- List of largest European law firms
- List of largest United Kingdom-based law firms
References
- ^ a b c d "UK 200 Results 2010: Denton Wilde Sapte". The Lawyer. Retrieved 26 September 2012.
- ^ "Denton Wilde Sapte: Group therapy". The Lawyer. 12 March 2007. Retrieved 4 October 2012.
- ^ "Heuking's merger snub sparks Dentons' withdrawal from international network". The Lawyer. 31 March 2003. Retrieved 4 October 2012.
- ^ "Denton's terrible year". The Lawyer. 4 July 2005. Retrieved 4 October 2012.
- ^ "DWS embarks on mission to bolster depleted partnership". The Lawyer. 1 May 2006. Retrieved 4 October 2012.
- ^ "DWS London makes switch to LLP status". The Lawyer. 30 October 2006. Retrieved 4 October 2012.
- ^ "Sonnenschein, Denton Wilde To Merge". American Lawyer. 26 May 2010. Retrieved 4 October 2012.
- ^ "A new transatlantic firm born as SNR Denton goes live". The Lawyer. 30 September 2010. Retrieved 4 October 2012.