Clyde & Co to form 2600-lawyer shop in merger with UK law firm BLM

Skyscrapers in the City of London financial district are seen on a foggy morning, December 7, 2020. REUTERS/Toby Melville

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  • Combination will expand Clyde & Co’s insurance practice
  • Merger with smaller firm BLM set to take effect in July

(Reuters) – London-founded global law firm Clyde & Co will combine with BLM, an insurance-focused firm with offices in the UK and Ireland, the firms said on Monday.

Partners at both firms agreed to the merger, effective in July, that will create a combined firm with an annual revenue of more than 700 million pounds ($916.02 million), the firms said.

The combined firm, which will go by the Clyde & Co name, will have about 2,600 lawyers total, according to a firm statement.

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Clyde & Co, the larger firm with 2,000 lawyers, said it specializes in sectors including insurance, infrastructure and energy.

The move will see most of BLM’s lawyers join Clyde & Co’s casualty insurance group, with other lawyers adding to the firm’s professional liability and healthcare teams, the firms said.

James Cooper, chair of Clyde & Co’s global insurance practice group, said in a statement the firm has “long sought” a merger to scale up its UK casualty insurance work and “provide the full scope of services, technology, data analytics and innovation” for those clients.

The combined firm will have offices in more than 60 cities globally.

Clyde & Co has 60 partners in the U.S. in 13 offices, including New York, Denver, Miami and San Francisco, according to the firm’s website.

Clyde & Co has done at least seven other mergers, most recently in July 2021 with a small law firm in Vancouver. The deal with BLM would be the firm’s largest combination by revenue and headcount since its 2011 merger with London-founded Barlow Lyde & Gilbert, Clyde & Co said.

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Sara Merken

Sara Merken reports on privacy and data security, as well as the business of law, including legal innovation and key players in the legal services industry. Reach her at sara.merken@thomsonreuters.com

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Jeanice Drews