The Brief:
Ashurst and Perkins Coie have gone live as Ashurst Perkins Coie, the global law firm for the future economy.
The “built for what’s next” positioning doubles down on three sectors: technology, energy and infrastructure, and financial services.
Ashurst Perkins Coie is open for business.
The newly combined firm went live on 28 June, folding Ashurst and Perkins Coie into a single globally integrated partnership.
The pitch is crisp: “the global law firm for the future economy.” And the branding makes that ambition clear: a bold mint green against a deep teal, signalling something new ahead.
The identity centres on three sectors:
technology
energy and infrastructure
financial services
The tagline is “built for what’s next.” It's a deliberate signal that Ashurst Perkins Coie isn’t positioning itself as just another generalist global firm. It’s picking its sectors and backing them.
Innovation, the firm says, “has long been our tradition.”
The numbers back the ambition. 52 offices. 20 countries. 950+ partners. 3,500 client-facing practitioners. Flagship hubs in Seattle, London, Sydney and New York.
Running the show are Global Co-CEOs Bill Malley and Paul Jenkins, alongside Global Co-Chairs Karen Davies and Brian Eiting.
Jenkins set the tone at launch. “Ashurst Perkins Coie enters the market with a clear ambition: to be the leading global advisor to the companies shaping the future economy. We have built a firm with the scale, capability, and sector focus to combine deep global market insight with practical execution, helping clients tackle complex, cross-border challenges.”
Malley pointed to AI as the thread stitching it all together. “As AI brings these sectors closer together, we are uniquely positioned to help clients navigate this convergence so they can move forward with confidence.”
Both legacy firms arrived in solid financial shape. Ashurst posted record revenue of £1.152bn (A$2.2bn) in its final solo year, PEP up 15% to £1.592m (A$3.1m). Perkins Coie finished 2025 at roughly US$1.284bn (A$1.9bn) in gross revenue, with average PEP just under US$2m (A$2.9m).
Nevertheless, it took partners a long time to agree on a new equity arrangement, with the firm landing on what one source described as effectively a single global profit pool, with all partners remunerated the same way.
“It’s complicated. There’s always lots of arrows and lines and boxes, but effectively yes,” the person said when asked about the single profit pool. “A commercial response is yes.”
The road to launch wasn’t smooth. More than 22 partners walked out of Perkins Coie’s Seattle base from February, while Ashurst shed partners to Baker McKenzie and DLA Piper.
The merger is the latest in a wave of transatlantic combinations reshaping Big Law, including A&O Shearman, HSF Kramer and Hogan Lovells Cadwalader.
“Built for what’s next” is the pitch. Now the work begins.
Source: Ashurst Perkins Coie, Law.com