Deacons Australia to Join Norton Rose Group

LONDON - Creating one of the Best Resourced Legal Practices in Asia Pacific

International legal practice Norton Rose Group today announced that Deacons Australia will join Norton Rose Group. The decision follows the completion of successful votes by the respective partnerships on 22 June 2009. The new international legal practice will be called Norton Rose Group and will take effect from 1 January 2010.

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The new Norton Rose Group will have a turnover of more than GBP420m (AUD864m) and in excess of 1800 fee earners in 29 offices worldwide. In the Asia Pacific region, it will bring together more than 700 fee earners operating from 12 offices in Bangkok, Beijing, Brisbane, Canberra, Hong Kong, Jakarta, Melbourne, Perth, Shanghai, Singapore, Sydney and Tokyo.

From 1 January 2010, Norton Rose Group will be led by Group Chief Executive Peter Martyr, the current Norton Rose LLP Chief Executive, and Deputy Group Chief Executive Don Boyd, the current Deacons Australia Chief Executive Partner. Norton Rose LLP Chairman, Stephen Parish, will be the Chairman of Norton Rose Group.

Norton Rose Group will be a significant global player in legal services bringing together the heritage, strength, scale, and capabilities of two highly successful firms. The Group will have a common global ambition, quality of service to clients, values, systems and procedures.

Peter Martyr, Chief Executive Officer, Norton Rose LLP commented:

“We share the same global ambitions to develop our business and improve the depth and breadth of service to our clients. This move will enhance our international reach and in particular create one of the best resourced legal practices in the Asia Pacific region.”

“The economic influence in the world is moving eastwards and in order to develop our business we needed a significant expansion in our resources in Asia Pacific. The increased capability of the group throughout Asia Pacific will lay the foundations for further regional development and expansion.”

Don Boyd, Chief Executive Partner, Deacons Australia commented:

“As soon as the initial discussions were underway it became clear that there was a common global ambition, particularly in the predicted growth markets of the future, namely Asia Pacific. We have shared aspirations regarding strategic growth, both in practice area terms and geographic expansion. The business case is compelling and the synergy of working together is convincing.”

Deacons Australia will join Norton Rose Group after its arrangements with Deacons Hong Kong come to an end later in the year.

Notes to Editors:

Norton Rose Group

Norton Rose Group is a leading international legal practice. We offer a full business law service from our offices across Europe, the Middle East and Asia.

Knowing how our clients’ businesses work and understanding what drives their industries is fundamental to us. Our lawyers share industry knowledge and sector expertise across borders, enabling us to support our clients anywhere in the world. We are strong in corporate finance, financial institutions, energy and infrastructure, transport, and technology.

Norton Rose Group comprises Norton Rose LLP and its affiliates. We have over 1000 lawyers operating from offices in Abu Dhabi, Amsterdam, Athens, Bahrain, Bangkok, Beijing, Brussels, Dubai, Frankfurt, Hong Kong, Jakarta*, London, Milan, Moscow, Munich, Paris, Piraeus, Prague, Riyadh*, Rome, Shanghai, Singapore, Tokyo and Warsaw.

* associate office

Deacons

Deacons is a leading Australian legal practice. It has been one of the fastest growing large law firms in that country since 2000 and is now eighth largest by revenue and partner numbers. The firm prides itself in offering an intelligent alternative to other large law firms and in the three years to 2008 it achieved cumulative revenue growth of 20 per cent. It brings over 500 fee earners with offices in Sydney, Melbourne, Perth, Canberra and Brisbane and teams in Singapore and Jakarta.

For further information please contact: Sean Twomey, head of public relations and campaigns, Norton Rose LLP +44(0)20-7444-3740 +44(0)7921-604892 sean.twomey@nortonrose.com Paul McKeon, Communications Manager, Deacons Australia +61(0)2-9330-8650 +61(0)414-596-266 paul.mckeon@deacons.com.au

Source: Norton Rose Group

For further information please contact: Sean Twomey, head of public relations and campaigns, Norton Rose LLP, +44-(0)20-7444-3740, +44-(0)7921-604892, sean.twomey at nortonrose.com. Paul McKeon, Communications Manager, Deacons Australia, +61-(0)2-9330-8650, +61-(0)414-596-266, paul.mckeon at deacons.com.au