Alliance partners defy Linklaters on pressure to merge

The announcement from City firm Linklaters that its Belgian alliance partner has agreed to a merger at the cost of six senior defections from the partnership has created an air of defiance among other alliance members who thus far have shunned merger.Linklaters' Swedish alliance member Lagerlof & Leman formally merged with the City giant at the beginning of September.

Meanwhile at Begian alliance member De Bandt the six partners who announced that they will leave the firm prior to the merger were led by the firm's managing partner, Roel Nieuwdorp.

The move came as a surprise because Mr Nieudorp was at the forefront of the merger negotiations, and had moved on several occasions in the past six months to dispel speculation that the merger was not going ahead smoothly.Bert Van Drie, head of marketing at Dutch alliance member De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek, said the firm would continue to work with the alliance, but that the decision by De Bandt - and the finalisation of the merger with Lagerlof & Leman at the beginning of September - would not push the partners to reconsider whether they should merge with Linklaters.He said: 'De Brauw has to make a decision about its own future and the decision by De Bandt does not affect that decision.'Meanwhile, Alberto Maggi, managing partner in the Padua office of Italian alliance member Gianni Origoni said the firm would 'certainly look with attention at these events'.Mr Maggi said the conclusion of the merger of Lagerlof & Leman had been entirely positive, but added that events at De Bandt had 'not been costless in terms of resources (departures)'.

He said the firm would look at 'all of this' in the course of future discussions.Mr Maggi said Gianni Origoni was still in a phase of integration and development of a common culture rather than merger considerations which 'would be premature'.

He also suggested that the Italian firm may have lost referral work through conflicts as a result of its alliance with Linklaters.Jeremy Fleming