Am Law 200 firm Clark Hill is expanding its European presence through a merger with Irish firm O’Gradys Solicitors.

Quitely does it

The firm, with roots in Detroit, quietly opened its first international office in Dublin at the end of 2017 with four local partners, and the merger brings the number headcount up to 19. The firm currently has over 650 lawyers across 25 offices in the US, Mexico, and Ireland. It is now providing a full set of legal services to its clients doing business in Ireland, complementing its service offering in the US.

'Logical choice'

Kirby Tarrant, partner in charge of Clark Hill's Dublin office, said ‘we can now offer Irish clients, large and small, access to the full suite of legal services throughout the US. We are ideally placed to serve the increasing needs of US clients doing business in and through Ireland, and equally to facilitate the globalisation goals of Irish SMEs wishing to expand into the US.’The ceo John Hern added, ‘Ireland is the logical choice for our first expansion into Europe.’ Mr  Hern explained, ‘we wanted to understand the market and study it. We’ve done our homework and taken a slow approach up to this point.” IDA Ireland ceo Martin Shanahan said, ‘the firm is a welcome addition to the strong base of legal services firms operating in Ireland.’