The 2024 merger that created Allen Overy Shearman Sterling – commonly known as A&O Shearman – is one of the most significant in modern legal history. It was between UK ‘magic circle’ firm Allen & Overy (A&O) and US faded royalty Shearman & Sterling. A&O was founded in 1930 by odd couple George Allen and Thomas Overy, the former handsome and austere, the latter less so. Allen famous went on to advise King Edward VIII during the abdication crisis. Shearman
The 2024 merger that created Allen Overy Shearman Sterling – commonly known as A&O Shearman – is one of the most significant in modern legal history. It was between UK ‘magic circle’ firm Allen & Overy (A&O) and US faded royalty Shearman & Sterling.
A&O was founded in 1930 by odd couple George Allen and Thomas Overy, the former handsome and austere, the latter less so. Allen famous went on to advise King Edward VIII during the abdication crisis.
Shearman & Sterling, meanwhile, was founded in New York by Thomas Shearman and John William Sterling in 1873 and was one of that city’s ‘white-shoe’ elite firms. Its star waned rapidly in the 2010s, however, and by the time of the merger Allen & Overy was clearly the dominant partner.
