Law firm mergers increase in the City

UK firm Rowe & Maw and US firm Mayer Brown & Platt are on the verge of hammering out a merger deal to create a 398-partner, top-10 global firm by revenue.

KLegal, the law firm set up by accountancy firm KPMG, is merging with Scottish firm McGrigor Donald, which also has a sizeable London office. The merger is aimed at ramping up KLegal's London operation.

National firm Radcliffes has also agreed to merge with Le Brasseur J Tickle to form RadcliffesLeBrasseur.

The merger will create a mammoth healthcare litigation firm to be based in London, with additional offices in both Leeds and Cardiff.

"Healthcare litigation is not subject to the M&A slowdown, and in this respect the work is recession-proof," he said.

Insurance firm Badhams has merged part of its London operation with niche professional indemnity law firm Williams Davies Meltzer to create a new insurance firm called Plexus Law, containing seven partners from both sides.

Badhams' London and Croydon offices will continue under the existing Badhams brand.