Following a vote by the Partnerships of both Bryan Cave LLP, one of the leading US law firms, and Berwin Leighton Paisner (BLP) LLP, including its Russian practice Goltsblat BLP, the two firms have announced they will merge, officially launching in April 2018. The new firm will be called Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner with combined revenues of over US$900 million. As the result of the merger Goltsblat BLP will continue to operate in Russia under the new name Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner (Russia) LLP. The merger brings together two organisations widely recognised for their innovative approaches to client service, into one global, fully financially integrated law firm. Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner will provide clients with access to international practice and sector teams in 32 offices across 11 countries and a platform of approximately 1600 lawyers.

Clients in the Russian market will continue to enjoy access to a well-established team of over 100 lawyers, including 18 partners, with over 20 years of experience, one of the leaders on the Russian legal market with an excellent reputation, continuously top-ranked by the leading international and Russian directories and rankings in the firm’s key areas.

Furthermore, clients of the combined firm will have access to broader and deeper legal services including: one of the most active global M&A practices*; the world’s 4 th largest real estate practice**; an international financial services practice present in all of the world’s largest financial centres; and an international litigation and corporate risk practice. Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner will also have a range of other international industry sector and specialist offerings including: Cyber and Data Security; Energy Natural Resources; Food & Agritech; Hospitality; International Corporate Tax; Retail; Private Wealth; Sports and Entertainment; and Technology.

Both legacy firms have a strong track record in innovation. Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner will combine its legal operations, consultancy and technology resources globally to provide clients with access to market leading solutions including: ‘BCXponent’; ‘Practice Economics’ and ‘Streamline’.

The new combined firm will be led by Co-Chairs Therese Pritchard and Lisa Mayhew. “Our combination is rooted in a shared determination to do something fresh and different for clients,” commented Lisa Mayhew, Managing Partner of BLP. “Clients will benefit from our combined legal expertise; our shared values and culture and our approach to innovation in their interests. Different to most other international firms, ours will be fully financially integrated from Day one. This will enable us to work in teams whose only focus will be to provide a first class service to clients.”

“This merger will result in an expanded presence and set of service offerings in key markets around the world and accelerate our utilisation of technology and innovation to redefine efficiency and value in the practice of law,” said Therese Pritchard, Chair of Bryan Cave.

“Both firms have long traditions of building strong relationships – both with clients and within our firms. This legacy is reflected in shared values, including a core belief that our greatest asset is our people and our greatest responsibility is to our clients.” Andrey Goltsblat, managing partner of Goltsblat BLP added “I am convinced that this merger will be a new step for all our team. We used to be a leading national team, later on having joined forces with the major UK law firm Berwin Leighton Paisner (BLP) in 2009, we offered the market a totally new and unique legal capability which proved to be a success from the very beginning and over the recent years became one of the top-tier international law firms in Russia. And now the new firm Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner purposely structured as one global team to provide clients with top-quality, integrated legal advice and a wide range of new innovative products and services whenever and wherever they may need, will let us strengthen further our unique position on the Russian legal market and globally.”

 

*BCLP will feature inside the Top 10 for volume of US M&A activity (source: Thomson Reuters 2017 ranking)

**BCLP will rank 4 th globally for Partners working on pure real estate matters (source: The Lawyer’s Global 200 Real Estate Report).

Notes to editors:

Cities in which the new firm would have a presence:

- US – Atlanta; Boulder; Charlotte; Chicago; Colorado Springs; Dallas; Denver; Irvine; Jefferson City; Kansas City; Los Angeles; Miami; New York; Phoenix; San Francisco; St Louis; Washington D.C.

- Europe – Berlin; Brussels; Frankfurt; Hamburg; London; Manchester; Paris

- CEE – Moscow

- Middle East – Abu Dhabi; Dubai; Tel Aviv

- Asia - Beijing; Hong Kong; Shanghai; Singapore

Combined firm capabilities:

- It will represent 191 (or about 40% of the Fortune 500) as a combined entity

- It will represent 30 of the world’s top 50 banks (measured by revenue)

- It will advise 12 of the world's largest sovereign wealth funds

- BLP and Bryan Cave (BCLP) lawyers are ranked 268 times in Chambers Global, Europe and UK

- It will have 39 Tier 1 ranked lawyers in Chambers Global and UK

- It will have 10 senior statesmen/eminent practitioners in Chambers Global and UK

- It will offer clients expertise across 147 different specialisms Legacy firm recognition as innovative law-firms:

- BLP have been named Law Firm of the Year 8 times in since 2004

- Feb 2017: BLP named in the Client Intelligence Report as being the standout firm for adopting innovative client working Methods (source: Client Intelligence Report, Legal Business)

- 2015: BLP named as “Legal Game Changer of the Last Decade” by the Financial Times

- Sep 17: Bryan Cave and the University of Colorado Law School launch partnershipoffering law-tech focused internships (Source: The National Law Journal.)

- Feb 2017: Bryan Cave launches TechX, a new incubator designed to grow Bryan Cave’s industry leading legal technology awareness, depth and expertise for competitive advantage

- Nov 2016: Bryan Cave launches BCXponent, a new division focused on delivering practical solutions for law departments.

For additional information, please contact:

Ksenia Soboleva Tel.: +7 495 287 44 44

Head of PR and Communications Mob.: +7 965 125 03 73

[email protected]

About Berwin Leighton Paisner (BLP) (www.blplaw.com)

Berwin Leighton Paisner is an international law firm with 14 offices across the world focused on client-led innovation.

Berwin Leighton Paisner (BLP) has been named Law Firm of the Year 8 times since 2004 and, in 2015, was named a top-five 'legal game changer of the last decade' by the Financial Times plus came top in the 2017 Legal Business rankings for “Most Innovative Law Firm”. It provides a range of innovative solutions to clients including: Managed Legal Services; Visualisation; Streamline process mapping; and a wide range of practice innovations to its name.

About Bryan Cave LLP (www.bclaw.com)

Bryan Cave is a global law firm with more than 900 highly skilled lawyers in 27 offices in North America, Europe and Asia. The firm represents publicly held multinational corporations, large and mid-sized privately held companies, emerging companies, not-for- profit organizations, government entities and individuals. With a foundation based on enduring client relationships, deep and diverse legal experience, industry-shaping innovation and a collaborative culture, Bryan Cave’s transaction, litigation and regulatory practice serves clients in key business and financial markets. Bryan Cave has twice been named “Innovative Law Firm of the Year” by the International Legal Technology Association. The firm also offers a range of process improvement and project management services to corporate legal departments through its BCXponent consulting division and Practice Economics, Client Technology and Accelerated Review teams.

About Goltsblat BLP (www.gblplaw.com)

Goltsblat BLP is the Russian practice of Berwin Leighton Paisner (BLP). In Moscow, Goltsblat BLP has 100 lawyers, qualified under Russian and English law. Among Goltsblat BLP's clients are over 1700 companies, including major multinational investors operating in Russia (including 130 Forbes Global clients), Russian and international banks and financial institutions and Russian industry-leading companies.

Goltsblat BLP is the winner of 25 national and international awards over the past five years, including: Russia Law Firm of the Year – Chambers Europe Awards 2015 and shortlisted for 2016 and 2017; International Law Firm of the Year – The Lawyer European Awards 2014 and shortlisted in 2015; Legal Business Awards 2010 / Legal 500 and shortlisted in 2015; Client Service Law Firm of the Year – Chambers Europe Awards 2014 and 2010; A Top-3 international law firm in Russia by income – Pravo.ru 2016 national ranking; Goltsblat BLP is the 2rd largest law firm in Russia in 2017 – national ranking by Pravo.ru, etc.