Withers and Speechly Bircham, two law firms with large
private client practices, confirmed today they are in early talks over a possible
merger.

“Withers and Speechly Bircham can confirm that they are in
preliminary discussions regarding a potential merger. Both firms see exciting
opportunities for growth in such a merger,” they said in a joint statement. “Both
Withers and Speechly Bircham have been growing their international offering in
response to changes in the global legal market and the increasing importance of
private capital in the world economy,” it said.

A merger, if it goes ahead, is a sign of how consolidation
moves that are affecting the private banking industry, as it contends with
regulatory and other pressures, may also be coming to bear on law firms in the
private client space.

“There is still a lot more work to be done before any final
decision can be reached and so we will not be issuing any further comment at
this stage,” they said.

Withers, which employs more than 700 people and has over 100
partners worldwide, dates its origins back to 1896. It says it is the first
major law firm to convert to the status of UK limited liability partnership. It
has global revenues of more than $160 million (source: Withers’ website).

Speechly Bircham, was formed by a merger in 1974 between
Speechly, Mumford & Soames and the City office of Bircham & Co. It has
90 partners, over 260 lawyers in total and a complement of approximately 400
people. In the year ended 30 April 2012 its turnover was £57.6 million, ($87.4
million).