By Ameet Sachdev
| Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal, one of Chicago’s oldest law firms, has agreed to merge with Denton Wilde Sapte of Britain, creating a giant 1,400-lawyer firm.

The two firms said Wednesday that the combination will be known as SNR Denton. Sonnenschein Chairman Elliott Portnoy will share leadership of the firm with Denton’s chief executive Howard Morris as co-CEOs.

The deal is subject to a partnership vote on June 9.

“Our decision to combine was far from serendipitous — we each had
strategic reviews that led us to the other,” Portnoy said in a
statement.

The combination of the two firms is part of a recent trend of
trans-Atlantic hookups that tie firms in the world’s two largest legal
markets.

Technically the proposed union will be structured as a Swiss Verein,
similar to other large cross-border professional services tie-ups. The
two largest offices of the firm will be in New York and London.

Sonnenschein, founded in Chicago in 1906, has about 700 lawyers in 14
offices in the United States, Brussels and Zurich, Switzerland.