Originally Posted by Unregistered

it depends on how strong the FLA merger structure is. i understand tt in some FLAs like Morgan Lewis Stamford and Withers KW, the Singapore EPs are also EPs of the global firm, and they have to be made global EPs on their own merit & business case. This makes a divorce less likely because they are pretty welded at the hip and integrated financially. Altho they must remain separate entities due to regulatory requirements including rules on non-SG lawyer ownership. I believe Stamford pioneered this structure.

for other looser FLAs or JLVs, probably by intention, e.g. Eversheds HarryE and RHT Taylor Wessing, there's probably arrangements allowing parties to review and walkaway after X years. Their financials aren't integrated, and local partners aren't necessarily partners of the international side. Since Dentons is a verein and separate profit pools in each of their local offices, there may be a chance that Dentons and Rodyk divorce in the future too.

If you're in the know, you'd know that for many of these true combinations, the international side is very ruthless about profitability and ask many non-performing local partners to go if they aren't delivering the required P&L metrics.

The sad fact is, many local partners are just not as productive, or have that good books of biz, or are of the same calibre as their international peers.