Fieldfisher merges with Irish firm McDowell Purcell in Brexit-related expansion
City law firm Fieldfisher has struck a merger deal with Irish firm McDowell Purcell as it looks to secure a route into the EU market post-Brexit.
The deal gives Fieldfisher a Dublin office and 16 new partners and 50 lawyers.
A string of UK and US law firms have established Dublin bases following the 2016 referendum vote including Pinsent Masons, Simmon & Simmons and DLA Piper.
Read more: City law firm acquires Mayfair boutique in bet on London’s hedgie sector
Fieldfisher is the first to secure a merger with a local firm, despite a constant background buzz of merger chat over the last three years.
Fieldfisher managing partner Michael Chissick said: “Ireland was the last piece in our international growth strategy and we are now in all the key commercial centres across Europe…with Brexit on the horizon, it will also help us to continue to deliver services to our European clients.”
Read more: Global legal giant DLA Piper to launch Dublin office in post-Brexit move
“They [Dublin] will be a key beneficiary post-Brexit so it is an exciting market for us to be present in,” he added.
The Irish legal market is unusual among the major European business centres in that it is dominated by a handful of homegrown firms with international firms having made little headway there until recently.
The leading Irish firms have strong referral relationships with the top firms in London which partly explains their reluctance to cut off a lucrative flow of work by tying up with any one firm.
Chissick said: “We have stolen a march on the top ten UK law firms, the Magic Circle and the accountancy firms by having a Republic of Ireland office.”
Hundreds of UK solicitors have been admitted to practice on the Irish roll of solicitors since the Brexit vote, amid fears that Britain’s exit could affect their ability to practice across the EU and appears before EU courts.
Read more: City grind: Will law’s stuffy image stop it attracting top talent?