REUTERS/Tobias Schwarz">U.S. law firm Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel and global legal giant Herbert Smith Freehills are planning to merge to create a firm with more than 2,700 lawyers, according to a joint statement on Monday.
The proposed combination is subject to a vote among the partners at each firm. It would operate globally as Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer, and in the United States as HSF Kramer.
The merged firm would have more than $2 billion in combined revenues and have a single global profit pool, the firms said.
New York-founded Kramer Levin also has offices in Silicon Valley, Washington, D.C. and Paris. The firm had nearly 340 lawyers and generated more than $435 million in total revenue in 2023, according to figures reported by the American Lawyer.
Herbert Smith Freehills is the product of a 2012 merger between London-founded Herbert Smith and Australian law firm Freehills. It has more than 2,400 lawyers in 23 offices globally, with New York as its sole U.S. outpost, according to its website.
The firm generated more than $1.6 billion in revenue last year, the American Lawyer reported.
May 1 is the proposed launch date for the combined firm, according to Kramer Levin. Spokespeople for the firms had no immediate comment on the timeline for partnership votes.
Large U.K. law firms have been aggressively seeking growth in the United States. In May, London-founded Allen & Overy merged with New York's Shearman & Sterling, creating a firm with nearly 4,000 lawyers.
"We have long been committed to expanding our offering in the U.S. and Kramer Levin is the perfect fit," Rebecca Maslen-Stannage, chair and senior partner of Herbert Smith Freehills, said in a statement.
Howard Spilko, co-managing partner of Kramer Levin, in a statement, said the combination would offer it a "significant competitive advantage" by growing its practices and geographies.
The leaders of the firms were not immediately available for additional comment.