Pinsents and Masons' Partners Vote To Merge.

27 September 2004 - Partners at two leading law firms, Pinsents and Masons, have voted to merge their businesses, creating a top 15 UK law firm, with a significant international presence. The merged firm will be known as Pinsent Masons.

The merger, expected to be effective from early December, will create a u150 million turnover business, almost half of which will come from a greatly expanded London office, where the merged firm will rank in the top 25 of City offices.

The new firm will have approximately 240 partners, a total of 900 lawyers and total staff in excess of 1,500. In addition to London, in the UK the firm will have offices in Birmingham, Leeds, Manchester, Bristol, Glasgow and Edinburgh. Internationally, it will have offices in Brussels, Hong Kong and Shanghai, as well as a series of strategic alliances in Denmark, Dubai, Estonia, France, Germany, India, Poland, Scandinavia, Spain and the USA.

The merger of Pinsents and Masons is seen as the union of two quality complementary businesses, both strongly client and sector focused, which together will be able to unlock their full potential and create a distinct sectoral position in the legal market.

Both firms are known for their blue chip client bases, Pinsents among corporates and public sector organisations and Masons in the construction, IT, infrastructure and outsourcing sectors where it has built an international business and reputation.

Julian Tonks, Pinsents' senior partner, commented: "Together Pinsents and Masons is a compelling prospect for clients and staff alike. Our shared commitment to client service and sector excellence means we can hit the ground running, with the goal of being a leading sectoral law firm clearly in our sights."

Martin Harman, Masons' senior partner, said: "Both sides are excited about what the other has to offer. We each bring something different to the party and the pooling of those qualities, be they sector expertise, international experience and presence or legal knowledge, together add up to tangible benefits for our clients and will make Pinsent Masons an exciting place for our people to work.

"Commitment is our cornerstone - a commitment to go further than others for clients and to work harder than others for each other," he added.

For further information, please contact:

Clare Turnbull, Head of Communications,

Pinsents, on: 0845 300 3232

Mobile: [phone]

Vincent Gray, Marketing Manager,

Masons, on: 020 7490 4000

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Chosen Markets:

The merged firm will have eight Chosen Markets sectors:

Energy & Utilities; Financial Services & Insurance; Government; Infrastructure & Construction Services; Manufacturing & Engineering; Real Estate; Services, Technology.

Practice Groups:

Pinsent Masons will have 10 Practice Groups:

Banking & Finance; Corporate; Dispute Resolution & Engineering; HR & Tax; Insurance & Reinsurance; International Construction & Energy; Outsourcing & Technology; Projects; Property and UK Construction & Engineering.

London

Pinsent Masons would become a top 25 London practice with a turnover of u70 million and over 350 lawyers, making it larger than most of the two firms current competitors.

Pinsents

Dashwood House

69 Old Broad Street

London

EC2M 1NR

UNITED KINGDOM

Tel: [phone]

Fax: [phone]

E-mail: [e-mail]

URL: www.pinsents.com

(c) Mondaq Ltd, 2004 - Tel. [phone] - http://www.mondaq.com