Pinsents and Masons pick joint London chiefs ahead of December merger

Pinsents and Masons have named Martin Lane and Martin Roberts as joint London managing partners ahead of the national firms’ tie-up in December.

Lane, currently Pinsents’ national head of corporate, and Masons litigator Roberts are due to take the helm on 6 December, when the merger goes live. It is understood that both partners were appointed without an election.

Meanwhile, as part of the integration process, staff from Pinsents’ Gresham Street office are preparing to move out. The 60 staff are due to be relocated across Pinsents’ Dashwood House premises and Masons’ London office in January.

Pinsents is hoping to sub-let its Gresham Street office, which comprises around 20,000sq ft, although the firm has yet to identify tenants.

The firms are also conducting a property review in Manchester, where both have offices, to identify the merged firm’s property requirements in the city and whether one office should be offloaded.

Pinsents’ national head of dispute resolution and litigation Nigel Kissack, who is charged with integrating the two firms, admitted that the merger will result in some duplication and said there may be a handful of redundancies at support staff level.