UK's Clyde & Co moves into Seattle amid flurry of law firm mergers

By Sara Merken

NEW YORK, Feb 2 (Reuters) - London-founded law firm Clyde & Co has expanded its U.S. legal market footprint with its latest acquisition of a regional firm, adding to a wave of legal industry tie-ups since the beginning of the year.

Clyde & Co, which has more than 2,400 lawyers, said on Monday that it has opened an office in Seattle through a merger with 32-lawyer insurance coverage and litigation firm Forsberg & Umlauf.

The global firm expanded into Dallas with the addition of small firm Tillman Batchelor in January 2025 and picked up the Boston-based Hermes, Netburn, O'Connor & Spearing in February 2023.

The firm now has 20 offices in the United States and Canada and operates in more than 70 locations internationally. North America was Clyde & Co’s fastest-growing region by revenue and accounted for 25% of its revenues in its last fiscal year, the firm said in August.

Lawyers at Forsberg & Umlauf, who are based in Seattle and Portland, Oregon, focus on insurance coverage and bad faith litigation, among other disputes, Clyde & Co said. Seattle is a “key market” for the firm’s insurance sector clients, Clyde & Co’s global senior partner Carolena Gordon said in a statement.

Merger activity in the legal sector increased by 18% year-over-year in 2025, according to figures published by law firm consultancy Fairfax Associates, and 2026 has kicked off with a string of small law firm acquisitions.

There are also major global combinations on the horizon. On Friday, partners at Winston & Strawn and Taylor Wessing’s UK business formally approved their anticipated transatlantic merger. Two other big deals – Hogan Lovells’ planned combination with New York’s Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft and London-founded Ashurst’s tie-up with Seattle-founded Perkins Coie – are expected this year.