Northern law firms in merger talks

Law firms Weightmans and Ward Hadaway are in talks to create a £130m-turnover firm.

Weightmans is around two-and-a-half times the size of Ward Hadaway, and a combined firm would employ nearly 2,000 people.

John Schorah, managing partner of Weightmans said: “The legal market is changing and it is always sensible to look at opportunities that might benefit a business, its clients and its staff so Weightmans and Ward Hadaway are currently talking to each other to see if there are benefits of working closer together.

“We have shared strategic objectives and a significant number of shared clients. Whether or not these discussions will lead to anything permanent is, at the moment, unknown but we are enjoying getting to know each other better, sharing ideas and the discussions will be a benefit to our businesses, our clients and our staff even if nothing permanent comes of the discussion.”

Weightmans is a Liverpool-headquartered firm with 11 offices in the UK. In 2015 it merged with Ford & Warren to add a Leeds office.

Ward Hadaway employs 450 people in Newcastle, Leeds and Manchester and its tagline is “a northern law firm for national business”.