It's difficult not to notice the striking parallels between Dentons' split with its Chinese partner, Dacheng, and the latest dissensions between China and the West. Perhaps the Dentons split is less an analogy of the current tensions than a byproduct of it.
In her sensational exclusive, our Asia editor, Jessica Seah, explained how Dacheng “will no longer be a member of the Dentons Group" but will instead operate as a "separate and independent legal entity under a ‘preferred firm’" arrangement.
Dentons attributed the breakup to the "evolving regulatory environment", in particular to new rules "relating to data privacy, cybersecurity, capital control and governance”.
The consequences for Dentons are one thing—last year, the firm' 12,000+ lawyers made $2.94 billion in gross revenue, with Dacheng Dentons sitting among China's biggest law firms, alongside King & Wood Mallesons, Yingke Law Firm, AllBright Law Offices and Zhong Lun Law Firm; following the breakup, we expect the firm to drop out of the Global 100 rankings in the next 12 months.
As one partner told Jessica, "the intrusion of the Chinese government regulator into law firm business will not stop with Dentons".
Though relations between the two economic superpowers, the U.S. and China, have been uneasy for generations, it was Donald Trump's 2018 trade war against China that formed the catalyst for this most recent breakdown in trade relations. And, despite Joe Biden's ascent to office in 2020, things have have hardly cooled...
