International firm Clyde and Co has finalised its merger with rival BLM at the same time as wheeling out new technology that can handle the vast majority of civil claims.

The merger of the practices has been talked about for the past year and was confirmed on Friday, with the combined firm now known as Clyde & Co boasting annual revenue of more than £700m. The expanded firm has around 5,000 staff working from 60 offices worldwide, including 14 in the UK.

Clyde & Co says it is now the biggest legal provider to the UK casualty market with the largest data set of any firm.

As part of the merger, Clyde has already started consulting on closing the BLM office in Liverpool and reducing its footprint in the city significantly. The majority of staff will be offered hybrid working roles in Manchester, it said. 

While the vast majority of BLM roles have transferred to Clyde & Co, all salaried partners have become legal directors and must apply for a new Clyde & Co salaried partner role that will exist only in the casualty practice.

The merger coincides with the relaunch of the online claims platform known as Clyde & Co Newton which promises to offer automated services for most clients. The artificial intelligence system, the firm said, has the ability to ‘read’ 99% of all documents required for claims evaluation and automatically produce valuations for 89% of employers’ liability and public liability claims.

Clyde & Co Newton incorporates an AI costs assessor, a loss of earnings and pensions calculator, a recoveries assistant and an accommodation claim calculator. Further products are to be rolled out across the rest of this year and next.

Chris Murray, partner at Clyde & Co, said: ‘The merger is our response to insurers’ changing needs. By combining our businesses, we have created a new foundation for casualty claims built on scale, expertise and an innovative vision for the use of technology.’

Matthew Harrington, BLM’s former senior partner, said: ‘Size matters as clients are increasingly looking for end-to-end support from trusted suppliers across business lines and geographies as they seek partners to support their growth and drive to improve margins in what is an ever-competitive sector.’