‘It’s all about the clients’: BCLP’s senior partner on making a transatlantic merger work

Amid all the excitement surrounding the current wave of transatlantic mergers and their implications for the law firms involved, BCLP senior partner Segun Osuntokun believes the most important question when it comes to mergers is what they mean for clients.

“It's all about the clients,” Osuntokun tells us on The Non-Billable Podcast. “The raison d'être of any law firm or any strategic initiative, be it lateral growth or combination, has always got to be: what do our clients really want from us?”

Osuntokun, who became global senior partner in 2024 after five years as UK managing partner, helped steer BCLP through the integration of Berwin Leighton Paisner and Bryan Cave - one of the first major transatlantic mergers to launch with a fully integrated profit pool from day one.

Simple but not easy

Against the backdrop of a new wave of mergers, Osuntokun argues that success depends on much more than getting a deal over the line. Leaders need to understand how a larger platform will better serve clients and build the operational foundations needed to make the combination work.

“The business of law is simple, but it isn’t easy,” he says. “You need to build the infrastructure which will mean you have a good business services platform that is efficient, cost effective, and runs the gamut of all the offices in which you are based.”

BCLP's own experience offers a useful case study. Eight years after its merger, the firm returned to growth last year, posting strong financials that Osuntokun attributes to a "multi-year, multidisciplinary, multi-pronged strategy" focused on sector specialisation, client development and targeted investment.

Sector focus has become a central part of that approach. BCLP has prioritised five core sectors - sports, media and entertainment, food and agribusiness, real estate, financial institutions, and energy transition.

“Clients like being spoken to by people who know their industry, as well as being experts in litigation, M&A, private equity or whatever it may be,” he said.

On weekend emails

Away from strategy, Osuntokun also reflects on the demands of modern legal practice, including his comments that sparked industry debate after he said he uses delayed delivery for non-urgent weekend emails.

“If people don’t need their weekends intruded upon, then why do it?” he says.

Listen to the full conversation with Segun on The Non-Billable Podcast.