Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner

Last updated
Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner
Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner logo.svg
Headquarters One Metropolitan Square
St. Louis, Missouri
No. of offices32
No. of attorneysapprox. 1200
Major practice areas
  • Energy
  • Financial Services
  • Food & Agribusiness
  • Litigation & Dispute Resolution
  • M&A and Corporate Finance
  • Real Estate
  • Sports, Media & Entertainment
Key peopleSteve Baumer, CEO
Revenue$840 million (2024) [1]
Date founded1873
Company type Limited liability partnership
Website www.bclplaw.com

Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner LLP (BCLP) is an international law firm with 32 offices worldwide. BCLP is headquartered in St Louis, Missouri. BCLP states that it specializes in Real Estate, Tax, Finance, Corporate, Litigation & Corporate Risk and Transactions.

Contents

BCLP was formed in 2018 with the merger of St. Louis based Bryan Cave and the London firm Berwin Leighton Paisner. [2] In 2024, the firm completed the "formal transition from Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner to BCLP". [3]

History

Bryan Cave

Bryan Cave was founded in 1873 in St. Louis.

In 2001, Bryan Cave opened their Chicago office. [4] Shortly after, Bryan Cave and New York-based Robinson Silverman Pearce Aronsohn & Berman merged. [5]

In 2005 Bryan Cave lost its Riyadh and Dubai offices to the Houston-based firm Fulbright & Jaworski, but retained its office in Kuwait. [5]

Offices were opened in Hamburg in 2007. [6]

In 2008, Bryan Cave and Atlanta-based Powell Goldstein merged, creating an expanded firm with new offices in Atlanta, Charlotte, and Dallas. [7]  The Powell-Goldstein name was only retained in the firm’s Atlanta office for two-years. [8]

Bryan Cave merged in 2012 with Holme Roberts & Owen (HRO), a law firm based in Denver, Colorado with over 210 attorneys. [9]

In 2018, Bryan Cave’s partners voted to combine with Berwin Leighton Paisner. [10]

Berwin Leighton Paisner

In 2001, Paisner & Co and Berwin Leighton merged to form Berwin Leighton Paisner. [11] It specialized in real estate, finance, litigation and corporate risk, private wealth and tax. [12]

In 2009 Berwin Leighton Paisner was joined by 70 lawyers in Moscow. Operations in Russia traded under the name of Goltsblat BLP.

BCLP

Bryan Cave and Berwin Leighton Paisner combined in 2018, with Lisa Mayhew and Therese Pritchard announced as Co-Chairs. [13] In 2019, Pritchard stepped down as Co-Chair, with Steve Baumer elected as her replacement. [14]

Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, BCLP closed its 200-person Moscow office in 2022. [15]

In 2023, BCLP moved to a single leadership structure, with Baumer elected as the new Global CEO.

In 2023 Jeff Haidet, who previously was co-chair of Dentons US, joined BCLP as a partner. Fifteen lawyers specializing in intellectual property moved from Dentons to BCLP.

In 2024, BCLP absorbed Seattle firm Harrigan Leyh Farmer & Thomsen. [16]

In 2025, BCLP opened two offices in Saudi Arabia: Riyadh and Al Khobar. [17] It also announced that it would be withdrawing from Asia, closing its Hong Kong and Singapore offices. [18]

Notable transactions

BCLP represented Ralcorp in the 2007 $2.6 billion merger between Ralcorp and Kraft Foods' portfolio of cereals under the Post Cereal label.[ citation needed ]

In 2008 the company Advised Monsanto in its $290 million purchase of Aly Participacoes, a division of Brazilian global conglomerate Votorantim. Aly Participacoes operated two companies, CanaVialis S.A. and Alellyx S.A. which focus on sugarcane breeding and related applied genomics and biotech in the sugarcane industry.[ citation needed ]

In 2025, BCLP, alongside Pinsent Masons, began advising Thames Water on its plans to build The Abingdon Reservoir in Oxfordshire. [19]  

References

  1. ↑ "BCLP Sees Flat Year for Revenue, Profits".
  2. ↑ "Bryan Cave to change its name in law merger". www.bizjournals.com/stlouis. 2018-02-26. Retrieved 2018-02-26.
  3. ↑ "BCLP unveils global brand revamp". BCLP - Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner - BCLP unveils global brand revamp. Retrieved 2025-07-07.
  4. ↑ "Bryan Cave opens office in Chicago". The Lawyer | Legal insight, benchmarking data and jobs. 2001-11-12. Retrieved 2025-07-07.
  5. 1 2 Djordjevich, Vera (2007-03-15). Brian Cave Closes Riyadh Office. ISBN   9781581314601 . Retrieved 2014-03-04.
  6. ↑ "Our Offices | Offices | Hamburg". Bryan Cave. Archived from the original on 2021-09-13. Retrieved 2014-03-04.
  7. ↑ Cotts, Cynthia (2008-11-03). "Bryan Cave and Atlanta's Powell Goldstein to Merge". Bloomberg.com. Retrieved 2025-10-08.
  8. ↑ "Powell Goldstein to Merge with Bryan Cave and Give up its Name". ABA Journal. Debra Cassens Weiss. Archived from the original on 2024-07-30. Retrieved 2025-10-08.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  9. ↑ "Bryan Cave Merges with Colo-based Holme Roberts & Owen - Law Blog - WSJ". Blogs.wsj.com. 2011-12-06. Retrieved 2014-03-04.
  10. ↑ Release, Press (2018-02-27). "Bryan Cave and Berwin Leighton Paisner Partners Vote to Combine and Form Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner LLP a New, Fully Integrated, Global Law Firm". The Missouri Times. Retrieved 2025-10-08.
  11. ↑ "about blp Berwin Leighton Paisner". www.blplaw.com. Archived from the original on 2012-02-09. Retrieved 2025-10-08.
  12. ↑ "Berwin Leighton Paisner". www.blplaw.com. Archived from the original on 2012-01-27. Retrieved 2025-10-08.
  13. ↑ "Bryan Cave And BLP Approve Transatlantic Merger - Law360". www.law360.com. Retrieved 2025-10-08.
  14. ↑ Reyes, Eduardo. "Co-chairs elected at Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner". Law Gazette. Retrieved 2025-10-08.
  15. ↑ "'Simply the right thing to do' – five more law firms announce departure from Moscow". www.globallegalpost.com. Retrieved 2025-10-08.
  16. ↑ "BCLP absorbs 12-lawyer Seattle litigation boutique Harrigan Leyh Farmer & Thomsen". www.globallegalpost.com. Retrieved 2025-10-08.
  17. ↑ "BCLP enters Saudi Arabia with two office launch - Law Middle East". 2025-02-10. Retrieved 2025-10-08.
  18. ↑ "BCLP to Close Hong Kong SAR and Singapore Offices, Withdraw from Asia | Asian Legal Business". www.legalbusinessonline.com. 2025-03-27. Retrieved 2025-10-08.
  19. ↑ "BCLP and Pinsent Masons Secure Lead Roles on £2.2B Water Project". Law.com. Retrieved 2025-10-08.
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