Should I stay or should I merge? Law firm merger do’s and don’ts

Kat is responsible for enhancing existing client relationships at Raedas, while expanding our network across key markets in Europe, Latin America, the United States, the CIS, MENA, and Asia. With experience of living and working in the Netherlands, Israel, Russia, Brazil and the UK Kat draws on her wide international network and often acts as a bridge between different working and legal cultures on multi-jurisdictional matters. Having qualified as a solicitor with Clifford Chance and practiced with Lovells, Kat is often able to anticipate clients’ needs and partner with them on strategic solutions. Before joining Raedas, Kat headed up business development for the disputes team at Mishcon de Reya, and prior to that, she spent nine years running the London office of EPAM, a leading independent law firm. Kat has worked directly with corporates, financial institutions and law firms in the UK and globally. Kat is an officer of the International Bar Association’s Law Firm Management Committee. She studied law at the London School of Economics & Political Science.

Paul Hodkinson is the Editor-In-Chief of Law.com International, which is part of ALM and has journalists in 14 countries around the world. Before joining the company in late 2018, he was the Deputy Editor and Comment Editor of Financial News, part of Dow Jones. He has also held roles as Acting Editor of Financial News and Editor of Private Equity News and has written for The Wall Street Journal as well as numerous private equity publications in the U.S. He also spent time as a reporter and news editor at Legal Week. phodkinson@alm.com

Hanim is KPMG Law’s Asia Pacific Regional Leader for Legal Services. She also heads the Corporate M&A practice group at KPMG Law Indonesia. Currently based in Singapore, her global experience includes being resident in the UK, Malaysia, Japan, the US and Indonesia. She has 28+ years of practice specialization having worked on major infrastructure, project financing and M&A transactions in the aviation, banking, insurance, energy, plantations, and real estate sectors. She is also well-versed in cross-border securitization deals, structured financial products, and Islamic finance, having represented the interests of investors from Asia, the US, UK, and Europe in key onshore and offshore multi-currency transactions. Professional and industry experience Hanim is top ranked, consistently recognized as a Distinguished Practitioner or Leading Lawyer across multiple practice areas in major legal publications and directories including Asialaw Profiles, Asia Business Law Journal, IFLR1000, Legal 500 and In-house Community Counsel. Hanim was also named Top Ten Pioneers of New Legal Thinking by the Financial Times Asia-Pacific Innovative Lawyers Awards 2018. Asia Business Law Journal named Hanim as Singapore’s Top 100 Lawyers for two years in a row, in 2023 and 2024. This follows Hanim’s recognition as Indonesia’s Top 100 Lawyers in 2018 by the same publication when she was based in Jakarta. Hanim advises on best practices in law practice leadership and management through sharing and discussing concepts, experience and knowledge. She is the incoming Vice President of the International Bar Association (IBA) Section on Public and Professional Interest (SPPI) Council, Advisory Board Member of the IBA Law Firm Management Committee and member of the IBA Artificial Intelligence Working Group and Professional Wellbeing Commission. Hanim is also Senior Fellow at the CIMB Asean Research Institute (CARI) and was selected by the Singapore Academy of Law as an expert think-tank for a white paper on skills needed by legal professionals in the future. In 2019, Hanim co-founded the ASEAN Legal Tech Initiative, bringing together legal and technology experts in South-East Asia. As a leader, Hanim champions diversity and inclusion, mental health, well-being, and safety in the legal profession. She is a Board Member of the Workplace Pride Netherlands foundation.

Kent Zimmermann is one of the leading strategic advisors to law firms in the United States. He has advised on many of the most high-profile law firm combinations over the past decade. He is also presently advising on multiple active merger discussions, assisting multiple Global 25 firms on updating and achieving their strategies, and he is also engaged by a group of leading Am Law 100 and 200 firms on an ongoing basis as a trusted advisor to their chairs and managing partners.