International Alliances
Pinsent Masons operates internationally, with offices in the UK, Europe, the Gulf and Asia Pacific. In 2012 the firm opened its first office in Germany (Munich) and France (Paris).
In addition to the operation of a number of its own offices outside the UK, Pinsent Masons and its predecessor firms have been involved in a number of international alliances. Pinsent Curtis announced an alliance with Swedish firm, Magnusson Wahlin, in December 2000. In May 2003, Masons formed an alliance with US firm Thelen Reid to create Masons Thelen LLP, a practice concentrating on construction, engineering and infrastructure law. The alliance with Magnusson Wahlin is no longer in operation and Thelen Reid subsequently merged with Brown Raysman & Steiner to create Thelen Reid Brown Raysman & Steiner, with Masons Thelen LLP being dissolved shortly thereafter. In October 2008, Thelen Reid Brown Raysman & Steiner, by then called Thelen LLP, was dissolved. In January 2007, Pinsent Masons was one of the principal firms behind the formation of PMLG (Pinsent Masons Luther Group), a group of independent law firms bringing together 1,300 lawyers in 33 offices across the globe. However, in June 2009, Pinsent Masons announced it was pulling out of PMLG and forming a non-exclusive referral alliance with Salans. The strategy behind the Salans alliance being an attempt to leverage Salans presence across Eastern Europe in particular, with Salans benefiting from Pinsent Masons' large UK presence and growing presence in the Gulf and Asia.
On 12 December 2011 Pinsent Masons announced the end of its alliance with Salans. Senior partner Chris Mullen announced the firm planned to open offices in Munich and Paris in 2012.
The Munich office opened on 1 July 2012 and the Paris office on 1 September 2012.
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Famous quotes containing the word alliances:
“An alliance is like a chain. It is not made stronger by adding weak links to it. A great power like the United States gains no advantage and it loses prestige by offering, indeed peddling, its alliances to all and sundry. An alliance should be hard diplomatic currency, valuable and hard to get, and not inflationary paper from the mimeograph machine in the State Department.”
—Walter Lippmann (1889–1974)