Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner LLP (BCLP) is an international

law firm A law firm is a business entity formed by one or more lawyers to engage in the practice of law. The primary service rendered by a law firm is to advise consumer, clients (individuals or corporations) about their legal rights and Obligation, respon ...

with 31 offices worldwide. BCLP is headquartered in St Louis, Missouri. BCLP states that it specializes in Real Estate, Tax, Finance, Corporate, Litigation & Corporate Risk and Transactions. BCLP was formed in 2018 with the merger of St. Louis based Bryan Cave and the London firm Berwin Leighton Paisner.

History

King, Phillips & Stewart was founded in 1873 in St. Louis, Mo. A merger resulted in Stewart, Bryan, Christie & Williams in 1911, and six years, P. Taylor Bryan's name became the first in the firm title, where it remains to this day. Rhodes Cave joined the firm in 1917, and it was then named Bryan, Williams & Cave. The firm opened its first office in Washington, D.C. in 1978, and later in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

and New York. A decade later, they expanded to the west and southwest and opened offices in Phoenix and Kansas City. In the U.S., the Chicago office opens. Shortly after, Bryan Cave and New York-based Robinson Silverman Pearce Aronsohn & Berman merged. In 1932, UK-based firm Paisner & Co, provided general legal advice, including conveyancing. Almost a decade later, the firm developed a reputation for corporate work. Its clients included Great Universal Stores, Forte Holdings, and

Penguin Books Penguin Books Limited is a Germany, German-owned English publishing, publishing house. It was co-founded in 1935 by Allen Lane with his brothers Richard and John, as a line of the publishers the Bodley Head, only becoming a separate company the ...

. in 1947, Leighton & Co iprovided litigation and property advice to property developers in the West End of London. in 1980 Berwin Leighton was formed from a merger of Leighton & Co and Berwin & Co. Their clients included

Tesco Tesco plc () is a British multinational groceries and general merchandise retailer headquartered in the United Kingdom at its head offices in Welwyn Garden City, England. The company was founded by Jack Cohen (businessman), Sir Jack Cohen in ...

, British Land, Ove Arup, and Lex.

Growth and expansion

In 2005 Bryan Cave lost its Riyadh and Dubai offices to the Houston-based mega-firm Fulbright & Jaworski, but retained its office in Kuwait. The Kuwait office subsequently closed. Offices were opened in

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

in 2007, and

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

, followed by

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

and

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

in 2008. In 2009 Berwin Leighton Paisner was joined by 70 lawyers in Moscow under the leadership of Andrey Goltsblat, under the name Goltsblat BLP. Bryan Cave and Atlanta-based Powell Goldstein merged, creating an expanded firm with new offices in Atlanta, Charlotte, and Dallas. Bryan Cave merged in 2012 with Holme Roberts & Owen (HRO), a law firm based in

Denver, Colorado Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...

with over 210 attorneys. Bryan Cave also established an office in Frankfurt, Germany. In 2018 Bryan Cave merged with the London firm of Berwin Leighton Paisner. Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, BCLP closed its 200-person Moscow office i
2022
In 2023 Jeff Haidet, who previously was co-chair of Dentons US, joined BCLP as a partner. Fifteen lawyers specializing in

intellectual property Intellectual property (IP) is a category of property that includes intangible creations of the human intellect. There are many types of intellectual property, and some countries recognize more than others. The best-known types are patents, co ...

moved from Dentons to Bryan Cave.

Notable transactions

BCLP represented Ralcorp in the 2007 $2.6 billion merger between Ralcorp and

Kraft Foods Kraft Foods Group, Inc. was an American food manufacturing and processing conglomerate (company), conglomerate, split from Kraft Foods Inc. on October 1, 2012, and was headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. It became part of Kraft Heinz on July ...

' portfolio of cereals under the Post Cereal label. In 2008 the company Advised Monsanto in its $290 million purchase of Aly Participacoes, a division of Brazilian global conglomerate Votorantim. Aly Participacoes operated two companies, CanaVialis S.A. and Alellyx S.A. which focus on sugarcane breeding and related applied genomics and biotech in the sugarcane industry. BCLP counseled Barnes & Noble, the bookseller, on its $596 million purchase of Barnes & Noble College Booksellers Inc., a division that had been spun off from Barnes & Noble in the mid-1980s. The acquisition closed on October 1, 2009.

References

External links

* {{authority control Law firms established in 1873 Law firms based in St. Louis Foreign law firms with offices in Hong Kong 1873 establishments in Missouri