Duo decide ‘best path forward is to remain independent’
Womble Bond Dickinson (WBD) and BDB Pitmans have decided to call off their proposed merger and remain separate.
Transatlantic law firm WBD and national outfit BDB Pitmans had announced in October that they were in early merger discussions.
But in a joint statement yesterday the firm’s said that “after extensive discussions on the combined proposition, both firms have decided that the best path forward is to remain independent of each other”.
“Excellent relationships have been established and the firms will continue to work closely together in the future,” the statement added.
WBD was formed through a 2017 tie-up between UK law firm Bond Dickinson and US-based Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice.
The firm currently operates in 30 different locations, seven of which are in the UK (Bristol, Edinburgh, Leeds, London, Newcastle, Plymouth, and Southampton), The Legal Cheek Firms Most List 2023 shows. WBD offers 25 training contracts every year, with London NQs taking home £78,000.
BDB Pitmans was also born out of a merger between Bircham Dyson Bell and Pitmans in 2018. The firm works out of its London, Cambridge, Reading and Southampton offices and merged with the private wealth boutique Portrait Solicitors in April 2022.
It boasts a broad offering with strengths in litigation, pensions, planning and restructuring/insolvency, real estate, and family law, as well as acting for charities and a range of government departments and public bodies.
