Partners at City firm Berwin Leighton Paisner and US-based Bryan Cave have confirmed plans to merge. The new firm will open in April this year as Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner.
According to a statement from both firms, the combined practice will be a 1,600-lawyer firm with revenue of around $900 million (£644m).
The combined firm will be led by current Bryan Cave chair Therese Pritchard and Lisa Mayhew, managing partner at Berwin Leighton Paisner.
Mayhew said: ‘Clients will benefit from our combined legal expertise; our shared values and culture and our approach to innovation in their interests.’
Pritchard added: ‘Both firms have long traditions of building strong relationships – both with clients and within our firms. This legacy is reflected in shared values, including a core belief that our greatest asset is our people and our greatest responsibility is to our clients.’
Other recent transatlantic deals include Eversheds’ combination with US firm Sutherland Asbill & Brennan to create Eversheds Sutherland and Bond Dickinson’s tie-up with US-based Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice.
The combination signals the end of UK-based firms incorporating the name of Stanley Berwin, who died 30 years ago this year. Berwin was the founder of Berwin & Co, which became Berwin Leighton Pasiner and SJ Berwin, which went on to become part of King & Wood Mallesons (KWM). The European arm of KWM collapsed in January last year.
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