Dentons has launched a standalone advisory business alongside Albright Stonebridge Group as it seeks to expand its service offering beyond traditional legal advice.

Dentons Global Advisors will provide strategic counsel and support for clients on non-law related commercial, reputational, financial, regulatory and governance issues, such as diplomacy, capital markets and transactions advice, crisis management, corporate positioning and geopolitical risk advice. The new group is comprised of founding member Albright Stonebridge and a team of experienced advisory industry leaders, including its chief executive officer Ed Reilly, who joined Dentons from FTI Consulting in 2019.

Joe Andrew, Dentons’ global chairman and a board member of the new advisory group, said: “In partnering with Dentons Global Advisors, we intend to continue to scale our elite advisory offering with the geographic reach that will enable us to meet all of our clients’ needs… they are being asked to address bigger and broader issues than ever before and need coordinated advisory services to help them reach all of their goals.”

Washington DC-based business strategy firm Albright Stonebridge was formed in 2009 through a merger of two consulting firms, The Albright Group and Stonebridge International. The firm is chaired by former US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, who served under Bill Clinton’s administration.

Albright said: “During the past 20 years, we have built unparalleled strategic advisory capabilities and developed a reputation for solving the hardest problems while making a positive impact around the world. We are pleased to have found partners who share our vision and have complementary expertise.”

While Dentons Global Advisors will operate independently of Dentons and collaborate with other consulting firms, law firms and professional services providers, it will maintain close links with the wider Dentons business.

Elliott Portnoy, global CEO of Dentons, said: “The world’s leading companies require holistic, integrated and multi-dimensional solutions that mirror the situations they face. We are confident executive teams and board members will instantly see the unique value of partnering with an advisory firm that operates hand-in-glove with the world’s largest law firm, particularly when overseeing their most sensitive and confidential matters, such as transactions, crises, investigations or litigation.”

In February last year, Washington DC-based law firm Crowell & Moring announced that it had opened an office in Singapore courtesy of its international policy and regulatory affairs consultancy arm, C&M International. The office - the consultancy’s second in Asia and first in the Asia Pacific region – is led by former White House adviser Clark Jennings, who was appointed C&M’s managing director Asia in January.