International law firm Ogier merges with Dublin-based Leman Solicitors

International law firm Ogier has announced it is joining forces with Dublin based commercial law firm Leman Solicitors LLP, resulting in a combined firm offering legal services to the Irish market including corporate, real estate, dispute resolution and employment, and an international network providing banking, corporate and funds services.

The transaction closed on 22 March and the merger has been announced to employees in both firms. In Ireland, the firm will go to market as Ogier Leman LLP from June 2022.

Ogier Leman's 52-strong team, led by eight partners, will continue to develop its offering in Ireland with a growth plan that will deepen Leman's thriving domestic capabilities and diversify and extend its services to meet international and domestic client demand. All posts at the firm will be retained.

Leman was established in 2007 by partners John Hogan and Larry Fenelon. Leman has particular strengths in corporate, real estate, employment, financial services, dispute resolution and restructuring for Ireland-based clients. For the fifth year running, the firm was recently named as a Great Place to Work Ireland in the Best Small Workplace category.

Ogier is a full service firm with particular expertise in legal services to the corporate and financial sectors and is also deeply embedded in its local communities. The firm practices the laws of BVI, Cayman, Guernsey, Jersey and Luxembourg, with Ireland now added as a result of the merger. The combined group has 12 offices through Europe, the Caribbean and Asia, with approximately 900 employees and 100 partners worldwide.

Ogier Global is the firm's corporate administration business, working alongside partner-led teams to incorporate and administer a wide variety of vehicles, offering clients integrated legal and corporate administration services.

John Hogan, founder and managing partner of Leman Solicitors, said: “The opportunities that this merger with Ogier provides starts an exciting new chapter in Leman's growth and development.

"Leman has a strong, progressive culture, particularly in technology. We set ambitious standards for ourselves and our focus on excellence is our cornerstone. We are a people-led firm – this is a relationships business and we are so pleased to have found a partner like Ogier which is also a firm that puts people first and looks to innovation for solutions.

"The merger starts a new phase of investment and growth which will create new opportunities for our people to develop and thrive with the business. We are looking to strengthen each of our existing teams to compete in the new legal environment and to look towards the new markets that Ogier specialises in across the world's international finance centres."

"Our ambition now is to keep investing in our practices and our people, and to grow the business to anticipate client demand as it evolves both in Ireland and internationally."

Ogier's global managing partner, Edward Mackereth, said: "We're really excited to be joining with the Leman partners, working closely with a forward-looking business in Ireland and exploring together where we can take the combined group. There's an obvious strategic and cultural fit between the two firms - Ogier and Leman consistently put their people first, both firms have an amazing level of talent and development potential, tied with ambitious plans and the mindset to make this both successful and fun along the way. We'll build on the best of our respective firms' approaches.

"We want this merger to inspire our people in all our teams, to signal our ambition and to further empower our clients as we develop our service offering in Ireland and internationally.

"Ireland combines a thriving domestic market and a significant and growing centre for financial services excellence which we believe is a great fit for our next home jurisdiction.

"The merger with Leman complements our recent growth into Beijing and Singapore. No other firm offers the combination of laws, jurisdictions and services that we do, and the addition of a well-established and growing practice in Ireland alongside our offices in the Channel Islands, the Caribbean, Asia and Luxembourg extends Ogier's ability to deliver stronger service line and sector-led advice across the range of domestic and international commercial law."