b'A powerful combinationFor sixteen years Allen Allen & Hemsley and Arthurrelief of finalising the agreement was clear to all and the Robinson & Hedderwicks had worked together, yet theyprocess of bringing the firms together commenced.remained separate firms with a primary focus on their home cities. In 2001, under pressure to provide a moreThe merger came into effect on 1 July 2001. The new firm integrated national service to clients or risk a slow decline,was known as Allens Arthur Robinson. The union brought they merged.together 181 partners and 1,450 legal and support staff, creating one of the largest law firms in the Asia-Pacific The Allen Allen & Hemsley partners were a notoriouslyregion. The merger was structured so the Arthur Robinson individualistic group. They valued their autonomy, both& Hedderwicks partners joined the partnership of Allen personally and as a firm. The task of convincing them toAllen & Hemsley, ensuring the continuity of Australias merge fell to then managing partner, Ian McGill. Despiteoldest legal practice. Together they acted for most of the the sense that the merger was inevitable, the partnerstop 100 companies in Australia and thirteen of the top 100 had to be convinced scientifically that it was the bestcompanies in the world.of the available options, he explains. The demand to work alongside clients nationally and internationally wasMichael Robinson and Kevin McCann, chairs of the increasing and there was much more that bound us antecedent firms, co-chaired the new partnership. Poulton than divided us. was appointed the managing partner and spent three days a week in Sydney sharing an office with McGill. McGill took The Arthur Robinson & Hedderwicks partners were on the role of senior executive partner, integration and more flexible by nature, but equally worried about culturalclient services. There were some bumps along the way, differences. In Melbourne, partners and their families oftenMcGill says. However, in general the integration went spent weekends and holidays together, while the Allenbetter than anyone had expected. Allen & Hemsley partners were less inclined to mix office and domestic life. Also of concern was the need to manage client conflicts and the complexities of achieving financial integration. The main thing that had held back both firms was that we had always done very well as we were, says Tom Poulton, then managing partner at Arthur Robinson & Hedderwicks. However, despite our differences, it was clear we would serve our clients better by merging with Allens.On 14 March 2001 the 103 partners from Allen Allen & Hemsley and the seventy-eight partners from Arthur Robinson & Hedderwicks voted to merge. The next morning, McGill stood in the ballroom of the Wentworth Hotel in Sydney and informed the Sydney staff. Poulton informed the staff at the RACV in Melbourne. The emotionalIan McGill and Tom Poulton.218'