Practice Makes Perfect Match

SYDNEY, Australia (PROTEXT) - Sydney based Norton Smith & Co.and international law firm Coudert Brothers have announced theywill merge in a move intended to broaden the scope andavailability of services for clients which are increasingly doingbusiness throughout the world. Coudert Brothers pioneered the vision of a world law firm andhas had international offices operating as a single unifiedpartnership for 147 years. By merging with Australia's oldest lawfirm, Coudert Brothers will boost its Australian operations to anoffice of 75 lawyers. The newly merged firm's intention is to extend both the scopeand the scale of the firm. Coudert Brothers' strategy is toestablish strong, globally integrated legal practices whichdeliver expertise in domestic law in every significant commercialcentre throughout the world. "This merger is clearly very synergistic to us and ourclients' according to partner Peter Noble. "It significantlyextends Coudert Brothers' resource base in Asia Pacific andbroadens the scope and availability of legal services for all ofour clients. With Australia increasingly considered as a regionalhub for global businesses, a strong presence in this criticalmarket is important to our international clients. In addition,access to breadth of legal talent in this timezone is importantto clients in the Northern Hemisphere embarking on projects inthe region who need detailed and immediate advice on local legalissues as they arise." Coudert Brothers is already firmly established in Australia,having advised the Federal Government on the Commonwealth Bankfloat, and is currently advising on the proposed public float ofa second tranche of Telstra. Other clients of the Australianpractice include a variety of banks, investment banks and multi-national corporations. Norton Smith also boasts a blue chipclient list including ANZ, Mirvac, Shell, St. George Bank andYates. Coudert Brothers Chairman, Anthony Williams, based in NewYork, said that the merger with Norton Smith & Co. represented asignificant expansion of the firm's Asia Pacific capabilities andwas in sync with client demands for service in this region. "Asour clients re-engineer to compete internationally, so do we. Aswe enter the new millennium our clients are communicatingglobally and developing electronic commerce strategies. They needaccess to premium legal services in every jurisdiction whichCoudert Brothers can deliver. Coudert Brothers will now have aglobal complement of 575 lawyers and will continue to grow as itadds further depth to the reservoir of legal talent available toclients in its offices around the world." Founded in 1853, Coudert Brothers is one of the oldest andmost respected international law firms, with 27 offices in mostmajor business and governmental centers. Coudert Brothers hasoffices in New York, Washington, DC, San Francisco, Palo Alto,Los Angeles, San Jose, Denver, Montreal, London, Paris, Brussels,Frankfurt, Berlin, Hong Kong, Singapore, Beijing, Tokyo, Bangkok,Jakarta, Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi, Sydney, Almaty, Moscow, and St.Petersburg. ots Original Text Service: Coudert BrothersInternet: http://www.newsaktuell.de Contact: Sydney - PeterNoble, +02-9223-1488, or N.Y. - Anthony Williams, 212-626-4418,both of Coudert Brothers

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