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Dentons to combine with PJS Law in the Philippines
Dentons, which has five offices across Australia, is set to combine with Philippine law firm PJS Law as the firm looks to shore up its position in south-east Asia.
Jerome Doraisamy
In October of last year, Dentons — one of the world’s biggest law firms — announced that it was entering into a “historic combination” with Link Legal in India, which it said marked the first time a global law firm has combined with an Indian firm.
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Now, Dentons has unveiled its intention to combine with PJS Law, a Philippine full-service firm, which the global player hopes will accelerate its momentum among the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) and further allow it to connect clients to professionals with its offices in Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, and Vietnam.
PJS has 57 lawyers and professionals, including 19 partners — 57 per cent of whom are women.
As a result of the new combination, Dentons now has offices in seven locations across the six aforementioned countries in ASEAN.
The combination “solidifies a longstanding cooperation between the two firms”, Dentons said in a statement.
Speaking about the combination, PJS chief executive Regina Jacinto-Barrientos said that the Philippine firm and Dentons “share the vision of leading the way for differentiated client service in ASEAN”.
“Our future combination with Dentons means that we continue to deliver sustainable solutions, first-rate performance and exceptional client care representative of the PJS brand, while our clients also benefit from having access to more than 21,000 professionals around the globe,” Ms Jacinto-Barrientos said.
Dentons global chief executive Elliott Portnoy added that PJS’ excellent standing in the market made it a “compelling and inspiring” combination prospect for the global player, in what it sees as being a critical market for its clients.
“Founding partners Regina Jacinto-Barrientos and Roy Santos, with their strong leadership team, have built an impressive firm that prioritises inclusion and diversity and is known for outstanding client service,” he said.
“The combination will allow us to provide clients with local knowledge and global insights across ASEAN and around the world.”
Dentons ASEAN regional chief executive Gerald Singham noted that the global firm’s strategy is “focused on finding firms [that] share Dentons’ ethos and have the proven ability to offer our clients sophisticated, high-quality legal services and business solutions”.
“PJS Law is a leading full-service firm, and our combination will continue Dentons’ momentum in ASEAN,” Mr Singham said.
In recent months, Dentons Australian chair Doug Stipanicev has sat down with Lawyers Weekly to discuss the firm’s revenue plans for the coming years, as well as its “investment in culture” in Australia.
Mr Stipanicev was also recently reappointed for a third term in his role.
Elsewhere, Dentons decided late last year to formally retire the role of global chair and also promoted 28 lawyers in June of last year and appointed six new partners towards the end of 2022.
