The firm first announced its strategy for expansion in the U.S. in late 2019, via combinations with a firm in Pittsburgh and another in the Midwest. Three more followed, but the last addition was over three years ago.

       

Dentons’ growth initiative targeting overlooked U.S. markets, which sought to “do for law and commerce in the 21st Century what the transcontinental railroad did for transportation and commerce 150 years ago,” has been discontinued, sources familiar with the firm confirmed.

Named for the spike that marked the transcontinental railroad’s completion, Denton’s Project Golden Spike offered firms in secondary and tertiary markets an international network for referring clients and the Dentons brand while allowing firms to maintain economic autonomy in exchange for a cut of annual revenue.