Winston & Strawn and Taylor Wessing’s UK-led business completes transatlantic combination
Winston & Strawn and Taylor Wessing’s UK-led business have officially completed their transatlantic combination, launching a new law firm under the name Winston Taylor. The firms confirmed the merger on 1 June 2026, creating a combined practice with more than 1,400 lawyers operating across the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe, Latin America, and the Middle East.
Winston Taylor will operate from 20 offices worldwide and has positioned itself as a transatlantic firm focused on businesses operating in sectors linked to capital markets, innovation, and technology.
According to the announcement, the combined firm will focus on major litigation, corporate transactions, strategic intellectual property, and private wealth matters. The practice will also target key sectors including technology, media and telecommunications, life sciences and healthcare, financial services, and projects, energy, and infrastructure.
Steve D’Amore, chairman of Winston Taylor, said the firm would adopt a “client-first approach” while rapidly integrating its teams and offices following completion of the merger. He said the new structure was intended to create a firm “aligned, focused, and built for the day-to-day needs of our clients as well as their breakthrough moments”.
Shane Gleghorn, managing partner for Europe and the Middle East, said lawyers across the newly combined business had already identified cross-border opportunities arising from the merger. He said the combined platform would allow the firm to advise global clients across major hubs of innovation and capital while strengthening its international capabilities. The merger combines businesses with more than 400 years of collective history.
Winston & Strawn was founded in 1853 and is recognised as an Am Law 50 firm with around 1,000 lawyers across 14 offices globally. The firm is known for litigation, intellectual property, corporate transactions, finance, and regulatory work.
Taylor Wessing UK traces its origins back to 1782 and operates as a Top 20 UK law firm with more than 450 lawyers across the UK, Ireland, and the Middle East. The practice has established strengths in intellectual property, life sciences, technology, private wealth, and private equity.
The announcement also confirmed the integration of Taylor Wessing’s Netherlands and Belgium operations into the wider Winston Taylor structure. The Benelux practice includes offices in Amsterdam, Eindhoven, and Brussels and comprises more than 100 lawyers and civil-law notaries. The firms said the combination expands their corporate, finance, real estate, antitrust, regulatory, and private wealth capabilities, enabling the new business to provide broader cross-border legal support to international clients.