Partners at Taylor Wessing and Winston & Strawn have started voting on the firms’ planned transatlantic merger, which was announced just before Christmas.
Voting is set to close by the end of the month, with the merger set to go live in May should it receive the blessing of partners at both firms.
The pair announced plans to combine as Winston Taylor in mid-December, with the union set to create a firm with estimated revenue of $1.75bn at the end of the financial year.
Should it go ahead, the merged firm will have more than 1,400 lawyers and 450 partners operating across the US, the UK, Europe, Latin America and the Middle East.
If voted through, the merger will see Taylor Wessing’s UK-led business (which has operations in the UK, Ireland, Dubai and a few lawyers in San Francisco) leave the existing Taylor Wessing verein to join forces with Winston & Strawn as Winston Taylor.
The Netherlands and Belgium offices will leave the Taylor Wessing verein, but will not join the merged firm straight away. Instead they will enter into an agreement to operate under the Winston Taylor brand without being part of the single firm for an interim transition period. The German and French arms will operate independently, while retaining a cooperation and referral relationship with Winston Taylor.
Winston chair Steve D’Amore will serve as chairman of the combined firm, with Taylor Wessing UK managing partner Shane Gleghorn set to become managing partner of Europe and the Middle East.
The firm will have particular focus on major litigation, critical transactions, strategic IP, and private wealth.
In its most recent financial results, Taylor Wessing reported a 15% increase in UK revenue to £283.7m, with UK profit per equity partner (PEP) up to £1.1m.
Turnover for Taylor Wessing’s entire business, including France and Germany, stood at £526.2m (€619m) for 2024-25, up 10% from £480.7m in the previous year’s financial results.
Winston, meanwhile, recorded revenue of $1.27bn (£946m) in 2024, with net profit of $410m and PEP of $3.5m (£2.6m). The firm has 10 US offices and a small presence in London and Paris.
Taylor Wessing has long sought to build a platform in the US, and in 2019 signed a non-exclusive relationship with West Coast tech firm Wilson Sonsini.
Speaking to LB before Christmas, Gleghorn said: ‘We wouldn’t want you to think that the vote is something that is predetermined, but I really do hope that my partners believe the merits of this deal speak for themselves. We’ve both come to deeply admire the respective attributes of our organisations… these are two very strong, financially performing units coming together. That’s why I was totally captivated by this opportunity from the start.’
D’Amore said at the time: ‘I believe that our partners are going to see the merits of this quite clearly. I view this transaction as a consummation of what I have been saying for a long time, which is that Winston needed to be bigger and stronger in London, which is a hugely important market.’
News of the Winston Taylor deal came amid a frenzy of merger activity before Christmas, with Hogan Lovells announcing plans to merge with Cadwalader in a $3.6bn combination and Ashurst agreeing a deal to combine with Perkins Coie. The Ashurst Perkins deal would create a financially integrated firm with revenue of around $2.7bn and roughly 3,000 lawyers worldwide.
Taylor Wessing and Winston declined to comment on the vote opening.
For more, see ‘A merger of complementaries’ or ‘transatlantic panic’? – the market view on Winston Taylor
