Global legal powerhouse Clyde & Co to merge with UK’s BLM in casualty push

Insurance-focused global legal powerhouse  Clyde & Co and UK-headquartered law firm  BLM have agreed to merge in a move that will significantly increase the scale of its UK casualty insurance practice.

The merger follows a vote in favour by partners at both firms. It will take effect from July 2022 when the combined entity will be known as Clyde & Co and together will have a global revenue of over £700 million per annum, a headcount of over 5,000, with offices in over 60 cities worldwide.

BLM will become part of Clyde & Co’s global insurance practice which provides advisory and dispute resolution services to insurers and their clients. The majority of its lawyers will join Clyde & Co’s casualty insurance practice, with other sizable groups joining professional liability, healthcare and business advisory teams.

BLM is a UK and Ireland law firm focused on insurance risk and commercial law with a particular strength in casualty, personal injury, healthcare and professional liability. Clyde & Co is a global law firm, specialising in insurance, infrastructure, aviation, energy, marine, and natural resources.

Clyde & Co’s merger with BLM would be its biggest combination in terms of revenue and headcount since it merged with Barlow Lyde & Gilbert in November 2011, at the time the largest ever merger of two UK law firms.

Following the merger, the firm will offer a broad casualty insurance offering across its UK offices in catastrophic injury, disease, employers' and public liability, abuse & neglect, fraud, motor claims, and property damage and recovery, supplemented by a Costs team, Forensic Accountants, investigators, other specialists, and an in-house Safety Health and Environmental Regulatory team, enabling the firm to provide full coverage across civil and criminal matters.

Carolena Gordon, Clyde & Co’s senior partner, said: “We are delighted the merger has secured approval from both sets of partners. At Clyde & Co we are always focused on growing and developing our offering for the good of our clients and our people and this merger does exactly that. BLM has highly talented people and outstanding client relationships and we are excited by the potential of this combination.”

James Cooper (pictured), Clyde & Co partner and chair of its global insurance practice group, added: “We have long sought to increase the scale of our UK casualty insurance practice though a merger so we can provide the full scope of services, technology, data analytics and innovation that clients in this dynamic part of the market require. [...] This combination will also boost our regional UK presence and strengthen our healthcare and professional liability offerings too.”

Clyde & Co has recently launched a new online platform and suite of innovative digital tools to help insurers speed up the handling of their casualty insurance claims with the aim of delivering the lowest overall indemnity spend to clients. The new product offers cutting-edge technology and AI for claims automation. This complements BLM Innovations, a suite of online analytics, case management and communications tools, which the firm first launched in 2019. This includes flagship tool, Foresight, a pioneering AI system, developed in conjunction with the London School of Economics.

Chris Murray, partner and head of casualty at Clyde & Co, explained: “This is a really exciting move for us and our clients in the casualty space. It is such a fast moving and innovative part of the insurance market and combining with BLM will allow us to invest even more in the technology and innovation that our clients are asking for. We will also have the ability to harness the largest data set in the market to provide invaluable MI and data analysis to clients. But crucially, it is a merger founded on a shared approach to quality and client service and that will remain at the heart of our offering.”

Matthew Harrington, BLM senior partner, said: “We are looking forward to the opportunities combining both firms will bring for our people and our clients. This merger is one of aligned approaches and values, offering huge benefits to our clients in the areas that matter most. Combining our expertise will strengthen our market offering in the UK casualty, healthcare, and professional liability space, with true operational excellence and the agility to respond rapidly to the changing needs of the market.”

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