Is one of the legal industry's biggest names about to get even bigger? Chief executive partner Robert Milliner gives an insight into the road ahead for Mallesons Stephen Jaques
Mallesons chief names Bhutan in three-year forward strategy". It would make a great headline - despite being nothing to do with the firm. Robert Milliner is a trekking enthusiast and already has his trips planned for the next three years - including a journey to the tiny Kingdom of Bhutan. But meanwhile, another kind of forward strategy is keeping him occupied. Recently reappointed as chief executive partner for a new tenure extending through to 2011, he's been charged with the task of protecting Mallesons' position as one of the genuine heavyweights of the Asia-Pacific legal scene. But the firm also has ambitions beyond merely consolidating its achievements to date.
Clifford Chance
Last year Mallesons revisited the idea of a merger with Magic Circle firm Clifford Chance, but talks were thwarted by the deepening economic downturn. Milliner does not rule out the possibility of reviving the idea. "We have a view that there are certain trends driving the legal profession - globalisation of business, the war for talent, the kind of career opportunities that talented people are seeking, further market segmentation - and in light of this, the preferred option for the firm is more likely than not to be part of a global one. I doubt we're alone in that view," he adds. The global economic downturn has, of course, put a new complexion on these developments, but Milliner says that when positive times return, "the planets may align" once again in favour of a merger. But there is no guarantee that the partner firm will be Clifford Chance - there is no exclusive understanding between them.
"Our [merger] criteria are clear," says Milliner. "We are motivated by how we can better service clients, how we can offer our people better career opportunities and how we can best leverage the firm's legacy and history. We are looking at firms and asking the questions: 'What makes you successful? Will that still be there if we were to come together - and will it be enhanced?' It's about compatible cultures and clients."
All this raises other questions: If Clifford Chance was considered a compatible partner in 2008, would it not presumably remain so in 2010? Would Clifford Chance not remain the forerunner? But it's speculation on which Milliner will not be drawn. "We aren't going to try and second-guess the future," he states. "Our criteria are clear and we will maintain dialogue with whole range of firms."
And this "whole range" of firms is not necessarily limited to the Magic Circle, with Milliner travelling regularly to the UK and the US to meet with his counterparts in top firms there. Some of these discussions take place at formal conferences, while others are meetings arranged privately. The objective, however, is the same - to share ideas, with an open mind as to where the dialogue might lead.
Best of friends
While Mallesons has built up a strong presence in China and Hong Kong, it is absent from other Asia-Pacific markets such as Singapore, Tokyo and New Zealand.
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