Contributors
Womble Bond Dickinson (WBD) is celebrating its fifth anniversary since the combination in November 2017 of US firm Womble Carlyle and UK firm Bond Dickinson.
The combined firm now ranks in the Top 20 UK law firms and Top 100 US firms and boasts 30 offices across both countries, having recently expanded into new markets such as Houston, New York and San Francisco.
Leveraging an impressive geographical footprint and legal minds of over 1000 lawyers, WBD advises international and national clients combining legal expertise and deep sector knowledge. In the past five years, the firm has advised on a number of international deals drawing upon its transatlantic capabilities. To name just a few, WBD's corporate teams in London and Baltimore advised Camden Partners Nexus, a Baltimore-based venture capital firm on its participation in an $80m series B investment round in COMPASS Pathways; Southampton and Boston teams advised UK-based Invenio on its merger with US-based LSI Consulting; and the firm advised its longstanding US client, National Corporate Housing, on its first UK based acquisition.
Over the years, UK and US colleagues have also collaborated on a number of projects and initiatives to enhance the firm's offering, explore new business opportunities and share best practice for example:
- WBD's Transatlantic Lawyers Network: Launched in 2018, the network is designed to strengthen relationships and promote collaboration at all levels between the UK and US. The programme includes exchange visits into the US and the UK with opportunities to network, build relationships and explore business culture awareness to bolster understanding of the different jurisdictions
- WBD's International Innovation Week: UK and US colleagues run an annual Innovation Week which looks at innovative technology that is transforming the legal industry and other sectors, how businesses challenge themselves to develop more efficient processes, and new ways of engaging with clients to embed a culture of innovation. The initiative provides an engaging platform for everyone across both countries to come together and listen, learn, debate and create, through a series of open invitation webinars, workshops, roundtable events and discussions.
Paul Stewart, UK Managing Partner at Womble Bond Dickinson, says:
"The success of our transatlantic combination is based on the deep-rooted cultural alignment between our UK and US practices. Through our common values, a shared focus on sectors and industries and our shared commitment to delivering excellent client service and value, we have supported our clients to achieve their domestic and international goals. Celebrating five years as Womble Bond Dickinson is an important milestone - in that time we have learnt a huge amount from each other and, in an increasingly competitive market, we look forward to building on our success as a combined firm."
Betty Temple, US Chair and CEO at Womble Bond Dickinson added:
"When we formed Womble Bond Dickinson five years ago, we deeply believed that this transatlantic combination would benefit our clients, our firm and our people - and this has been the case. The combination has given us a deeper bench across a wider range of practice areas. This, in turn, helps us better serve clients in an increasingly global marketplace. In addition, our transatlantic platform has helped us recruit and retain top talent.”
