Bryan Cave is in talks to merge with Berwin Leighton Paisner. According to The St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the large St. Louis law firm confirmed the news on Monday.
“If the combination is approved by partners in a vote slated for this year, the firm would have 32 offices in 12 countries and 1,500 lawyers, becoming one of a handful of global law firms with a significant presence in both the U.S. and major international markets,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch wrote. “With 209 lawyers in St. Louis, Bryan Cave is second in size only to Thompson Coburn, which has 239 lawyers here. Across the firm, Bryan Cave has 900 lawyers in 26 offices.”
Bryan Cave’s chair, Therese Pritchard, is located in St. Louis but the firm’s administrative staff and management are spread out between the firm’s New York, Kansas City, and St. Louis locations. According to St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the firm does not consider any city to be the headquarter office.
“If we combine, we will operate without regard to geographic boundaries,” Pritchard said in her statement. “Our firm would be one of only a handful of global firms operating in a one-firm structure with more than 500 lawyers in both the U.S. and internationally.”
Berwin Leighton Paisner has 600 attorneys and is headquartered in London. Lisa Mayhew, the managing partner of the firm, said that the merger would be good for the two firms’ clients.
“Our two firms share a strong commitment to innovation in the interests of our clients,” Mayhew said in a statement. “We also have an unusually strong cultural fit with a mutual focus on collaboration across our businesses in the interests of deep and lasting client relationships. It is encouraging for the potential firm that BLP and Bryan Cave both have this complementary heritage, but crucially also share the same ambitions for the future.”
In late 2015, Bryan Cave considered acquiring Dickstein Shapiro but the deal fell through close to Christmas, according to Law.com. In 2016, Berwin Leighton Paisner discussed merging with Greenberg Traurig, but the merger did not go through. It was rumored that the two firms could not see eye to eye when it came to compensation and culture.
Berwin Leighton Paisner had a seven percent gross revenue increase last year but profits per equity partner fell by eight percent. Conversely, Bryan Cave saw its gross revenue decrease while its profits per equity partner rose.
No date was given on when the merger would occur, and the two firms declined to comment further beyond what was stated in their press releases.
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