Global firm Dentons is to combine with Glasgow-headquartered firm Maclay Murray & Spens in the latest of a series of Scottish legal brand names to disappear in a merger. 

Combined, the firm will have around 800 fee earners in the UK, including 200 partners, operating from Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Glasgow, London, Milton Keynes and Watford, Dentons announced today. It will have 8,700 lawyers and professionals globally. 

Maclay is Scotland’s oldest commercial law firm. It was founded in 1871 and had revenues of £44.8m in the 2015/16 financial year. A previous merger plan, with Addleshaw Goddard, was called off last year. 

Kenneth Shand, chief executive at Maclay, said: ‘With offices across the Americas, Europe, Africa and Asia-Pacific, Dentons will unquestionably be the only significant player in Scotland which is a genuinely global firm.

‘We will have a unique ability to offer Scottish businesses with international ambitions access to the largest array of legal talent in the world, and international firms with an interest in Scotland, the resources of one of the world’s most innovative and forward-thinking law firms.’

Elliot Portnoy, global chief executive at Dentons, added: ‘This combination will significantly enhance our scale and capabilities in the UK. Combining with strong, independent and well-established firms is central to Dentons’ “in and of the community” ethos.’

The combination is expected to complete later this year following approval by the partnerships. Upon completion, Maclay will adopt the Dentons brand.

The disappearance of the  Maclay Murray & Spens name will follow that of McGrigors, which merged with Pinsent Masons in 2012, and Dundas & Wilson, which was absorbed by London-based CMS Cameron McKenna the following year.