Withers and Speechly Bircham, two law firms with large private client practices, confirmed today they are in early talks over a possible merger.

“Withers and Speechly Bircham can confirm that they are in preliminary discussions regarding a potential merger. Both firms see exciting opportunities for growth in such a merger,” they said in a joint statement. “Both Withers and Speechly Bircham have been growing their international offering in response to changes in the global legal market and the increasing importance of private capital in the world economy,” it said.

A merger, if it goes ahead, is a sign of how consolidation moves that are affecting the private banking industry, as it contends with regulatory and other pressures, may also be coming to bear on law firms in the private client space.

“There is still a lot more work to be done before any final decision can be reached and so we will not be issuing any further comment at this stage,” they said.

Withers, which employs more than 700 people and has over 100 partners worldwide, dates its origins back to 1896. It says it is the first major law firm to convert to the status of UK limited liability partnership. It has global revenues of more than $160 million (source: Withers’ website).

Speechly Bircham, was formed by a merger in 1974 between Speechly, Mumford & Soames and the City office of Bircham & Co. It has 90 partners, over 260 lawyers in total and a complement of approximately 400 people. In the year ended 30 April 2012 its turnover was £57.6 million, ($87.4 million).