Weil Gotshal & Manges’ high-profile merger with Paris firm Serra Leavy & Cazals has set a precedent after the New York firm last month became the first foreign practice to be granted a French licence under the European Union’s Rights of Establishment Directive, it has emerged.
The structure of the deal saw the US firm’s new Paris practice registered as a branch of its London arm. The agreement is believed to be the first time the Paris Bar has given a foreign firm the right to open under the Directive.
