In its current form, Mannheimer Swartling was founded through a merger between Mannheimer & Zetterlöf and Carl Swartling Advokatbyrå on 1 July 1990.
Mannheimer
Love Mannheimer and Tage Zetterlöf founded Mannheimer & Zetterlöf in 1943 in Gothenburg. The aim was to establish a modern law firm which would be able to retain and develop its associates into successful partners. The firm established its first office abroad in 1971 in Rotterdam together with firms from Denmark, Norway and Finland. In 1973 offices were established in Skåne and the foreign business was expanded by the establishment of offices in New York in 1983 and in Frankfurt in 1989.
Swartling
In 1877, the district court judge Erik Martin and the court of appeal law clerk Ossian Wallin founded a law firm. Over the years the firm changed its name as partners joined and left. In the 1950s, the name of the firm was Wetter & Swartling and at that time the firm was one the largest business law firms in Stockholm. In 1951 the firm moved into Ivar Kreuger’s former offices, Tändstickspalatset (the "matchstick palace"), where the firm remained until 1996.
Wetter & Swartling split in 1974 when Wetter & Wetter was formed by father and son Wetter, and the remaining partners formed Carl Swartling Advokatbyrå.
Carl Swartling Advokatbyrå opened an office in New York in 1988 and in Moscow in 1989.
The merger
The first contacts between Mannheimer & Zetterlöf and Carl Swartling Advokatbyrå were initiated in 1977. However, for various reasons the time was not considered right for a merger, but the firms continued to have close contact, exchanging financial information and having joint training days.
Therefore, when the issue was discussed again in 1990 it was rather easy to merge the two firms. The merger was also facilitated by the firms’ shared principles; a will to develop a joint legal practice over the long-term and a generous attitude towards partners and employees.
The merger led to the creation of a firm with approximately 90 lawyers and an administrative staff of roughly the same size. One of the clear aims of the new firm was to create a more specialised firm on all levels – specialised lawyers but also a specialised administration – in order to leverage the firm’s strength to achieve a more efficient and professional practice.
The industry was sceptical of the merger and questioned whether such a large law firm really had any basis in the Swedish market. However, time showed that the merger was a correct decision. The firm has subsequently grown and today has approximately 410 lawyers.
New times
What else has happened since the firm was formed, apart from growing larger? Today, our services are significantly more specialised than before and the basis of the practice consists of different kinds of transactions. We have created a number of specialist functions in order to make the practice more efficient such as knowledge management, IT, HR and communication. In the past the lawyers we hired had 2-3 years experience from the courts before starting at the firm. Today, we hire a great number of lawyers without any previous work experience. However, the number of lawyers who have studied abroad has increased dramatically. We have also started hiring lawyers with foreign law degrees for permanent positions in the Swedish business.
Same ambition
So, what remains the same since the founding of the law firm? The ambition – the will to be the best at what we do. Working with Mannheimer Swartling should be a hallmark of quality. The long-term view – the will to build and develop a practice which evolves with the changing demands of our clients.