Dentons is strengthening its position in Southeast Asia by combining with suburban Manila’s PJS Law, which specializes in energy, finance, banking and capital markets.

PJS and its 57 lawyers, 19 of whom are partners, will give Dentons clients a broader reach in one of the fastest-growing and youngest global regions, according to the firm.

“Our clients have identified these markets as being exceptionally important to their business and to their strategies,” Dentons Global CEO Eliott Portnoy said in an interview. The merger creates “a formidable go-to-market force” across the region, he said.

Dentons, a global firm with partner offices in more than 80 countries, already had relationships with local firms in Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, and Singapore. But the lack of a Philippines office was a significant hole, Portnoy said.

“It’s our clients who said, ‘Why are you not together?’” Portnoy said of PJS.

PJS Law is located in Makati, a Philippines financial and banking hub that’s part of the Manila metro region. The Philippines “has an abundance of renewable energy, from solar to wind to the ocean,” and “is at the cusp of where the opportunities are,” said Regina Jacinto-Barrientos, CEO of PJS Law.

PJS Law will become part of Dentons’ Swiss vererin structure, which allows member firms to affiliate under one banner for marketing, while functioning separately in matters such as pay and taxes.

Dentons in November lost a bid at the Ohio Supreme Court to overturn a $32.3 million legal malpractice award for a former client who alleged a conflict of interest because the firm’s verein affiliate represented a company the client had sued for patent infringement.