London law firms Seddons and Lawrence Stephens to merge, creating £25m full service firm

West End law firm Seddons and Lawrence Stephens, a leading commercial law firm based in Farringdon, are pleased to announce that they are in the advanced stages of merger talks.

The combination will create a full service law firm of over 180 people with a joint £25m annual turnover. The merger is expected to complete in October and will see the combined firms move into new London premises.

Seddons is a UK200 law firm based in Portman Square, with particular expertise in real estate, corporate, dispute resolution and private client and family law. Lawrence Stephens specialises in real estate, real estate finance and banking, corporate and commercial and commercial litigation work.

The merger will bring together each firms’ complementary expertise to create a full service law firm. On completion, the firm will leverage its combined strength and depth to seek growth across all practice areas, with the ambition to increase turnover to £30m and become a UK Top100 law firm.

The senior directors of Lawrence Stephens will become equity partners in the LLP, creating a combined partnership of 13 equity partners and 37 fixed share partners.

Simon Ross, managing partner of Seddons, commented: “The merger of Seddons and Lawrence Stephens is exciting news for our people and clients. Our discussions have clearly shown that we have the same key values – how to provide the best platform for our loyal and experienced colleagues to reach their full potential and to provide a comprehensive and personal service to our wide client base.

“Together, we will take advantage of new exciting opportunities and provide our existing clients with an enhanced level of service and expertise. The merger strengthens our joint firms’ core departments and adds areas of specialism to benefit both our existing client bases. It provides the perfect platform for our future growth.

Steven Bernstein, senior director of Lawrence Stephens, added: “We are very excited by the prospect of merging with Seddons, a firm that, like us, comprises excellent lawyers and a wide range of entrepreneurial clients.

“It has been apparent from our first discussions that a real synergy exists between our firms. We both regard culture as key, putting our people first, whilst ensuring that our respective clients experience the best possible legal services in a timely and cost-effective way.”