Dentons, the world's largest law firm, announced today that Joseph Andrew and Elliott Portnoy have been re-elected to three-year terms as Global Chairman and Global Chief Executive Officer, respectively. They have led the firm together since its formation in March 2013.

Messrs. Andrew and Portnoy ran without opposition and have been the entrepreneurial drive and architects of Dentons’ client-centric strategy and polycentric approach to law firm management, resulting in a period of unprecedented growth while many law firms are contracting as they are buffeted by the changes shaping the legal profession globally. Under their leadership, Dentons has grown into the world’s largest law firm with more than 9,600 lawyers operating in 174 locations and 78 countries. During this same time, the firm has successfully completed dozens of business combinations throughout markets in Africa, ASEAN, Australia, Canada, Caribbean, China, Europe, Latin America, Middle East, United Kingdom and United States.

Since combining three regionally focused law firms in 2013 to create Dentons, the firm has steadily risen in global rankings and now stands among the Top 10 law firms in virtually any metric of quality, size and success. From 2012 to 2017, Dentons increased its awareness rankings from #68 to #5 in the Acritas Global Elite Brand Index and, from 2014 to 2017, increased its total firm rankings (practice, sectors and individual lawyers) by 84% in Chambers/Legal 500. In 2017, the firm also tied for first place among 650 law firms named as Client Service All-Stars by BTI Consulting Group.

Additionally, Messrs. Andrew and Portnoy are broadly recognized today as the legal industry’s foremost innovators. Dentons is committed to reinventing the practice of law, innovating in ways that not only provide clients with tailored and superior services but also shape where the practice of law is going. Specifically, the firm has won industry acclaim for the creation of the Nextlaw line of businesses, including:

• Nextlaw Labs, a business accelerator focused on investing in, developing and deploying new technologies to transform the practice of law;
• Nextlaw Referral Network, a legal referral network connecting clients with top legal talent worldwide; and
• Nextlaw In-House Solutions, a global strategic consultancy drawing upon the experience of more than 50 former in-house General Counsels, along with legal technology and process management experts, to provide integrated, multi-disciplinary advisory services, market insights and experienced perspectives to in-house counsel.

These innovations have led Dentons to be cited repeatedly as the industry leader driving the business of law forward, including being named as the most innovative international law firm by Legal Week for two consecutive years.

Messrs. Andrew and Portnoy commented: “We’re honored that our global partners continue to support us, and we remain fully committed to advancing our shared vision of making Dentons the law firm of the future. We are as energized and engaged today as when we started and look forward to realizing our partners’ shared passion around providing clients with the deepest, most experienced and most diverse global pool of lawyers available. As a polycentric law firm, Dentons is proud of its diversity in culture, gender, ethnicity and viewpoints. We look forward to continuing to lead Dentons and increasing our global brand and reputation as the law firm that is innovating most to best serve clients in the future.”

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