TJG's US connection pays off as firms merge

Taylor Joynson Garrett (TJG) is profiting from the recent merger of two US firms.

Graham & James merged with Seattle-based firm Riddell Williams Bullitt & Walkinshaw in January. Riddell Williams will become Graham & James' Pacific northwest office, making Graham & James the first major firm to provide offices from Los Angeles to Seattle and throughout the Pacific Rim.

TJG has secured business from the merger as a result of its unusual six-year affiliation with Graham & James - lawyer David Findlay is a partner of both firms.

Findlay, who is qualified as a lawyer in both the US and UK, is surprised at how quickly the merger achieved inbound and ongoing business for TJG.

"We've been merged since January and we've worked on four projects already that are inbound to the UK," he said.

"We haven't been merged long enough to tell the long-term relevance for the London market, but it is obviously a great attraction to be able to offer."

The merger has added 75 lawyers to TJG's international network, bringing its contacts through Graham & James to 1,400 lawyers in 40 cities.

The firms were affiliated in 1990, when Findlay opened the London office of Graham & James.

Findlay became a partner of TJG last November. "It was the final act of solidifying the firms' very successful relationship," he said.