The story
Founding
BCLP was founded as Bryan Cave in 1873 in St. Louis.
In 2001, Bryan Cave opened their Chicago office. Shortly after, Bryan Cave and New York-based Robinson Silverman Pearce Aronsohn & Berman merged.
In 2005, Bryan Cave lost its Riyadh and Dubai offices to the Houston-based firm Fulbright & Jaworski, but retained its office in Kuwait. Offices were opened in Hamburg in 2007.
In 2008, Bryan Cave and Atlanta-based Powell Goldstein merged, creating an expanded firm with new offices in Atlanta, Charlotte, and Dallas. The Powell-Goldstein name was only retained in the firm’s Atlanta office for two-years.
Bryan Cave merged in 2012 with Holme Roberts & Owen (HRO), a law firm based in Denver, Colorado with over 210 attorneys.
In 2018, Bryan Cave’s partners voted to combine with Berwin Leighton Paisner.
Berwin Leighton Paisner
In 2001, Paisner & Co and Berwin Leighton merged to form Berwin Leighton Paisner. It specialized in real estate, finance, litigation and corporate risk, private wealth and tax.
In 2009 Berwin Leighton Paisner was joined by 70 lawyers in Moscow. Operations in Russia traded under the name of Goltsblat BLP.
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BCLP
Bryan Cave and Berwin Leighton Paisner combined in 2018, with Lisa Mayhew and Therese Pritchard announced as Co-Chairs. In 2019, Pritchard stepped down as Co-Chair, with Steve Baumer elected as her replacement.
BCLP closed its 200-person Moscow office in 2022 following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
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.
In 2025, BCLP opened two offices in Saudi Arabia: Riyadh and Al Khobar. The company also announced that it would be withdrawing from Asia, closing its Hong Kong and Singapore offices.
From Wikipedia’s article on Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4