It’s an irony that as SNR Denton faces a tough post-merger period, a fair number of partners seeking to explain the firm’s struggles have sought to pin the blame on Denton Wilde Sapte’s previous management.

The argument goes that the UK firm persistently ducked addressing difficult performance issues in the years preceding its US merger. You can make a solid case for that assertion, but long-time Dentons-watchers are also likely to ask how much the firm as a whole was ready to stomach that sort of medicine.