Am Law 200 firms Arent Fox and Schiff Hardin have announced they are to merge in a deal set to take effect 1 March next year.

ArentFox Schiff will be home to more than 600 lawyers and policy professionals and have combined revenue of almost $508m, according to Law.com data, which will see it catapult into the top 100 US law firms by revenue and rival the likes of Barnes & Thornburg and Crowell & Moring.

“We are merging at a time when both firms are having record-breaking years in terms of production and profitability," said Arent Fox chair, Anthony Lupo, adding that the merger "doubles our corporate, finance and litigation capabilities."

Lupo will serve as chair of the combined firm, with Arent Fox firmwide managing partner Cristina Carvalho and Schiff Hardin managing partner Joseph Krasovec to serve as co-firmwide managing partners.

Washington DC-based Arent Fox, which has a sizeable lobbying offering in addition to its legal practices, had revenue of $333.6m in 2020 according to Law.com and profit-per-equity-partner (PEP) of £1.15m.

The smaller of the merging firms, Schiff Hardin, is headquartered in Chicago and in 2020 had revenue just shy of $174m and PEP of $1.07m.

“By joining forces with Arent Fox, our clients will benefit from our collective talents and resources,” said Krasovec, adding that ArentFox Schiff “will prioritise investing in legal talent and innovation that enables us to continue to be an industry leader in gateway US markets.”

The combined firm will have offices across the US including in Washington DC, Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, Boston, San Francisco and Ann Arbor.

Its major practice areas will include bankruptcy and financial restructuring, complex litigation, government relations, IP, international trade and investment and private client.

Carvalho said the combined firm “will offer our clients more resources, expanded talent and experience and a broader geographic reach".

She added: “Our complementary practices and similar cultures offer advantages for clients in need of bet-the-company litigation and superior transactional and regulatory counselling.”

The combined firm will advise clients across a spectrum of industries including real estate, environmental and agricultural, beverage and food, consumer products and product liability, health and life sciences, fashion and retail, and sports and entertainment.

Other US law firms to combine this year include Am Law top 40 firm Holland & Knight, which beefed up its presence in Texas’ hot legal market through a tie-up with Dallas-based energy specialist Thompson & Knight in August. The merger was the largest among US law firms since the onset of the pandemic and created a firm with almost 1,600 lawyers across 30 offices.

And in June, Washington DC-based Crowell & Moring announced it was expanding its footprint in the Midwest through a merger with Chicago-based tech and IP firm Brinks Gilson & Lione, having absorbed Wall Street boutique Kibbe & Orbe in April.