France's WSA and LSK merge to form Marvell Associés

The merger accelerates the growth of the two legacy firms. LSK was founded in 1988 by Jean-Louis Lasseri, now managing partner of Marvell, while WSA was formed in 2010 when Wilinski Scotto & Associés split in two.

Serge Wilinski, founder of WSA and now an employment partner at Marvell, said the firm felt it needed to expand to meet the needs of its clients. While lateral hiring was one option, Wilinski told The Lawyer the two-partner firm thought a merger was a better choice.

Marvell’s lawyers will initially practise four key areas of law - corporate, employment, commercial and tax.

Wilinski added: “We’re looking also to beef up some of the practice areas we don’t cover, such as property.”

Expansion of the current two-lawyer tax team is also likely.

Marvell will operate foreign desks to increase its referral work coming from international sources, focusing particularly on emerging markets such as Brazil and India.