Legal Slice

The highly anticipated merger between U.K. Magic Circle firm Allen & Overy and New York's Shearman & Sterling has officially taken place, resulting in the creation of A&O Shearman. With nearly 4,000 lawyers and combined revenues of $3.5bn, the new firm is now among the top five law firms in the world. The merger will strengthen A&O's presence in the U.S. and Shearman's position in the U.K. and other international markets. Khalid Garousha and Hervé Ekué have been named senior partner and managing partner respectively. Garousha described the new firm as "a platform like no other" and expressed confidence in its ability to provide clients with world-class solutions. The success of the merger and the response from A&O's U.K. rivals will be closely watched. Meanwhile, Bloomberg Law's Mahira Dayal looks at how the transatlantic firm still faces challenges to truly join the legal industry's elite. Dayal contends that even with its partnership, A&O Shearman still lacks the deep roster of private equity lawyers seen as necessary to rival top competitors, like Kirkland & Ellis and Latham & Watkins. Siobhán Lewington, a partner at search firm Macrae, commented: "The next two or three years are going to need a lot of care and attention around integration of the two firms." Dayal concludes that the merger will be judged largely based on how the combined firm performs in the US, the world's largest market for legal services.