WealthBriefing caught up with two senior figures at Taylor Wessing to discuss their firm's recent merger announcement with US-based Winston & Strawn.

When US-based Winston & Strawn and Taylor Wessing in the UK announced in early February that they were merging to create Winston Taylor, a transatlantic law firm, it was an example of firms responding to the cross-border concerns of many of their clients.

Most of the lawyers with these firms are in the US, the UK, Europe, Latin America and the Middle East.

"We've recognised from a private wealth perspective that when we look at the capital corridors at the moment, we see lots of movements of HNW individuals and capital between all of these places, but no one has covered these capital corridors. We want to service those transatlantically,” Nick Warr, a UK senior partner at Taylor Wessing, told WealthBriefing in a recent interview at his firm’s London office.

Warr works in the private client team and is former head of the international private wealth group. Warr spoke alongside Gabriel Estevez, head of the firm’s international private wealth group and a partner in the banking and finance team in London.

WealthBriefing asked the lawyers what being allied with a US-headquartered law firm would mean for Taylor Wessing.

Taylor Wessing already has a “big cohort of US clients,” Estevez said. Winston & Strawn was, amongst other strong practice and sectors, attracted to working with a UK firm that had the scale and existing large private wealth expertise.

With clients being increasingly international and operating across borders, developing such links is important, Estevez said. “In terms of internationally-mobile wealth, that has never been higher and it puts a premium on mobility and international service."

"Most clients that we serve are in a few different jurisdictions, they need people and talent in the right areas, but often what we're hearing from clients is that they want a single point of contact," he said. 

As part of the combination, Taylor Wessing said the Netherlands and Belgium voted to enter an agreement to operate under the Winston Taylor brand. It is anticipated that the Netherlands and Belgian regions will, over time and subject to approvals, fully integrate into a single firm with the US and UK operations of Winston Taylor.