25 In a market where there are more lawyers per capita than anywhere else on Earth, it is not surprising there has been a spate of law firm mergers in Israel, but none more so than in the last couple of years.Why and why now? The merger between Goldfarb Seligman and Gross (to be called Goldfarb Gross Seligman) catapulted the combined firm to the coveted number 1 spot – in terms of size - with more than 520 lawyers, leapfrogging Meitar (appx. 470 lawyers) Herzog (appx. 450 lawyers) and Arnon, Tadmor-Levy (itself a recently merged firm with approx. 420 lawyers), three of the industry’s most recognized shining lights. As we were about to publish, another merger Naschitz Brandes Amir announced it was uniting with Shenhav Konforti Rotem & Co., giving the merged firm appx. 240 lawyers, coming in at number 9. The merger between Goldfarb Seligman and Gross was negotiated over several months. The Goldfarb Seligman team was led by Tal Atzmon, Levy Amitay and Amir Tzafrir and the Gross team was led by Esther Koren, Aya Yoffe and Dr. Ayal Shenhav. For the newGoldfarb Gross Seligman firm, the response has been “extremely positive,” according to the partners who led the unprecedented transaction “Our merger was just announced, overall reception in the market has been extremely positive and also internally the teams in both firms are excited.” The merged firm practice areas will include four central pillars with over 100 lawyers in each pillar. These pillars are International Transactions and Hightech, Israeli Corporate, Mergers & Acquisitions and Capital markets, Real Estate and Litigation. The merged firm will also have substantial practices in related areas of law including Taxation, Banking and Finance, Labor Law, Administrative Law (including local authorities and tenders), Intellectual Property (IP), Energy and Infrastructure, Antitrust and Environmental Law (including ESG). Dr. Ayal Shenhav, Ashok Chandrasekhar and Rick Mann who will Co-Head the International, Corporate and Hi-Tech Practice at the new firm explain why they are thrilled about the merger between the two firms “Goldfarb Gross Seligman will be a true powerhouse for all cross border transactional Law firm merger mania in Israel
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