Squire Sanders combines with Hammonds

Squire, Sanders & Dempsey LLP has combined with Hammonds LLP, the firm announced in January. The new law firm now boasts an IP practice of 83 lawyers.

The new firm will be generally known as Squire, Sanders & Dempsey, but will use the name Squire, Sanders and Hammonds in the areas where Hammonds had offices, including London, Paris, Brussels, Madrid and Berlin.

Thirty-six new IP lawyers have joined. Out of the 83 IP lawyers at the combined firm, 47 were already employees of Squire Sanders.

Talks over the combination were announced in August 2010. Ninety percent of partners from both firms approved it in November.

As well as expanding Squire Sanders’ intellectual property practice, the combination also adds industry experience in sectors such as information technology, media and advertising, and sports and entertainment.

The new global board includes eight partners from Squire Sanders and five partners from Hammonds.

Peter Crossley, the former managing partner of Hammonds, and the new managing partner for Europe at Squire Sanders, said: “We are off to a strong start, in terms of both providing clients with expanded services in more key business markets and working as a united practice.”