New outfit led by female duo
The tie-up between City outfit Berwin Leighton Paisner (BLP) and US law firm Bryan Cave has officially gone live today.
The new global player, Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner (BCLP), boasts around 1,600 lawyers across 32 offices in 11 different countries. Last month, we reported that partners on both sides of the Atlantic had voted overwhelmingly in favour of the new combination.
The merger is unique because both legacy outfits were run by women: BLP’s managing partner, Lisa Mayhew, and Bryan Cave’s Washington-based chair, Therese Pritchard. BCLP will now be co-chaired by both women.
Commenting on the tie-up, Mayhew said: “Creating Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner has been a fantastic journey for us all. Our firms have come together with a commitment to serve our clients as one team.”
Pritchard added:
“Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner is well positioned to provide global strategic counsel to our clients across industries and geographies. Our integrated structure is designed to institutionalise and reward collaboration across our global platform.”
BLP, prior to today’s merger, offered around 40 training contracts annually, as it says on Legal Cheek’s Firms Most List 2018. We understand that details regarding the number of trainees the new firm will look to recruit going forward will be divulged in the near future.
The firm performed well in our Trainee and Junior Lawyer Survey, achieving As for training, quality of work, peer support, tech and social life. At our Legal Cheek Awards ceremony last month, BLP was shortlisted for its use of social media.
Meanwhile, Missouri-headquartered Bryan Cave was founded in 1873 and specialises in a range of practice areas including tax, retail, private wealth and technology.