Buying new IT isn’t going to give Norton Rose the breakthrough it wants
Peter Martyr is an enthusiast. His drive is formidable. The Norton Rose boss took a declining City firm into new territories, pioneering the Commonwealth path for expansion – something that Herbert Smith, Ashurst, DLA Piper and Gowling WLG followed, with varying degrees of success. Following the Australian, Canadian and South African combinations Norton Rose finally did the US merger with Fulbright & Jaworski. However, the American deal has not set a fire under the combined firm; as a defensive move it’s pretty smart, but a bold step forward it wasn’t. Despite being one of the few firms to execute a transatlantic merger, Norton Rose Fulbright has plateaued.