Two more law firm mergers have been announced, as the overall number of firms continues to fall.

Thames Valley firms IBB Law LLP and Owen White Solicitors will join forces from 1 January to create a business with 36 partners, 110 lawyers and £24m annual turnover.

The combined firm said its ambition is to invest in and diversify its client service offering, and achieve £30m turnover by 2024/25.

The firm will be known as IBB Law LLP and IBB Owen White for a transitional period, and will move into new offices in Reading in early February 2023. Owen White staff will integrate with IBB Law’s existing Uxbridge office and the Reading office, signalling the firm’s intention to grow in the region and beyond.

Joanna DeBiase, managing partner of IBB Law, will continue as managing partner for the merged firm and her opposite number Jane Masih will join the main board of IBB Law LLP.

Owen White Solicitors, a niche commercial services firm based in Slough, can trace its origins to the 1920s and has 25 lawyers and five partners. IBB Law, created through the merger of Illifes and Booth Bennett in the 1990s, specialises in commercial services, commercial property, private client and community legal services.

Meanwhile, north Yorkshire firm Grey-Smith Legal, a residential and commercial conveyancing specialist, is set to double in size after acquiring Cochrane’s Law Firm.

While retaining all employees, Grey-Smith Legal will also take on Cochrane’s offices in Stockton and Billingham as headcount grows to 40.

Dale Smith, founder and director of Grey-Smith Legal, said: ‘We have grown quickly since opening the doors to clients in early 2021, and the acquisition of Cochrane’s Law Firm is a proud moment in our journey so far.

‘Jim Cochrane [founder and director] and his team bring vast amounts of knowledge and experience, which will greatly support the growth and development of these two brands in the years ahead.’

The consolidation of the legal market has gathered pace in recent months, with the number of firms in England and Wales coming down by 200 to 9,660 in the last year. Over the same period 116 firms have closed as a result of a merger, accounting for 20% of all closures.

 

Pictured above (L-R): Dale Smith, Laura Zielinski, Jim Cochrane and Jo Grey