PINSENT CURTIS UNVEILS SHOCK MERGER WITH BIDDLE

National firm Pinsent Curtis and mid-sized London-based Biddle have announced a surprise merger.

The new firm will be called Pinsent Curtis Biddle.

The firm will have 157 partners, a total legal team of 518 and total staff nationally of 962, which the firm said catapults it into the top 20 by size.

In London, combining the two firms immediately doubles the size of the City operation, creating a 52-partner office and a total London legal team of 154.Biddle's core practice areas are corporate, pensions, media and employment.

Pinsent Curtis chiefs Julian Tonks and David Ryan will be senior partner and national managing partner respectively.

Martin Lane, Biddle's managing partner, will head the London office and join the overall firm's management board.Pinsent Curtis said the merger is a further stage in its 'chosen markets' strategy, which was launched early last year.

Senior partner Julian Tonks said: 'The ability to offer clients genuine strength in depth across a range of disciplines is critical to success in our Chosen Markets.

The merger with Biddle gives us the necessary combination of critical mass in the City coupled with market leading expertise.

Biddle was our preferred partner because of the very strong fit with our strategy.'

The firm will have a corporate group of 123 of whom 56 will be based in the City.

Biddle is well known for private equity work, and the combined team will have ten partners and an additional 35 lawyers.

Mr Lane said: 'Our reputation for quality is something that we pride ourselves on and we were anxious not to dilute it in pursuit of growth.

The merger with Pinsent Curtis both underscores and boosts that reputation and fits well with our strategic objective of focused growth in our key areas of corporate, pensions, media and employment.'

Under the chosen markets strategy, the firm is committed to attaining a leading position as a legal adviser in nine areas within the next three to five years: financial institutions; foreign controlled companies; insurance; major projects; pensions; private equity; property; PLCs; and technology and media.

Neil Rose