On Thursday 2 May 2024, A&O Shearman announced the successful completion of the merger of Allen & Overy and Shearman & Sterling.
The partnerships at both companies had approved and announced the merger back in October 2023.
Now, as of Wednesday 1 May 2024, the merger is complete and A&O Shearman is born.
Describing itself as a "fully integrated global elite firm" A&O Shearman counts some 7,000 people, and nearly 4,000 lawyers, including about 800 partners, working across 47 offices in 29 countries.
The firm said it would build upon its "depth of experience and diversity of talent to operate at the forefront of business across every industry sector, market and geography". It also reported that it is "the only firm equally fluent in US law, English law and the laws of the world's most dynamic markets".
A&O Shearman noted that it already advises more than a third of New York Stock Exchange-listed businesses and a fifth of the NASDAQ, as well as other leading organisations listed on the LSE, Euronext, Euronext Paris, Frankfurt Stock Exchange, Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange, Dubai Financial Market and the Tokyo and Hong Kong Stock Exchanges.
"Today we begin an exciting journey as a new firm - a firm that has an unrivalled global platform to offer our clients. A platform like no other. A&O Shearman is a new industry leader with unmatched experience, a unique culture and truly global capabilities," commented Khalid Garousha, senior partner at A&O Shearman.
Patrick Mischo, Office Senior Partner of the A&O Shearman Luxembourg office, added: "This is a historic moment for us, which I am confident will generate new opportunities both for the businesses of our clients and the A&O Shearman Luxembourg office."
According to the press release, "A&O Shearman will be structured to address the needs of clients now and in the future while further enhancing collaboration internally. It will go-to-market, and develop and manage talent, through a matrix of global practice groups and industry sectors worldwide."
"To deepen relationships with organisations worldwide, six key industry sectors will operate across practices, products and geographies," the statement continued, namely: Energy & Infrastructure, Established Industries, Financial Institutions, Life Sciences, Private Capital/Private Equity, and Technology.
"Regional offices will focus on local go-to-market strategies and collaboration, local market reputation-building, talent attraction and development, and local operations," it concluded.
