DWF has reached an agreement to acquire Whitelaw Twining Law Corporation, an independent law firm headquartered in Vancouver and TWK Management Limited, an intra-group services company.

Whitelaw Twining is a full-service litigation law firm specialising in insurance, commercial litigation, personal injury and dispute resolution, DWF described the firm as offering a strong strategic fit and clear business overlap with its own services.

Founded in Vancouver in 1979 as a boutique three-partner law firm, Whitelaw Twining now has 16 partners and employs more than 200 people in total, with offices in Vancouver and Calgary.

Sir Nigel Knowles, Group CEO at DWF, which has an office in Leeds, said: “We are delighted to be enhancing our offering in the Canadian legal market. Whitelaw Twining is one of the country’s top legal businesses and represents a high quality opportunity for our clients.

"It also allows us to expand our claims and adjusting presence in Canada and wider Connected Services and Mindcrest capabilities in North America.

“We have worked hard to ensure DWF is in a strong position so we can confidently make these key international acquisitions, enabling us to make further progress against our strategy to be the pre-eminent global provider of integrated legal and business services.”

"I look forward to working with our new colleagues. We identified a strong cultural fit with the Whitelaw Twining management team and the values and ways of working within their business. Their emphasis on internal collaboration over competition and on creating a progressive, innovative, and supportive working environment reflect our own 'one team' culture.”

Daniel Shugarman, Country Managing Partner of Whitelaw Twining, said:

“We are excited to be forming a partnership with the DWF Group, combining our respective Legal Advisory and Connected Services capabilities for the benefit of our clients.

"Over 40 years, Whitelaw Twining has gone from a three-person practice in Vancouver to a diverse, full-service litigation law firm serving clients in 17 languages. This is the next step forward for our business, further strengthening our position in Canada and creating opportunities for our colleagues to support clients globally.

"We already know DWF well, in particular, its Canadian claims and adjusting practice. We recognise the shared values and 'one team' approach of our two businesses and we are delighted that through DWF group's listed company status we are able to make our Whitelaw Twining colleagues shareholders with an opportunity to benefit from our future success."

DWF to acquire Canadian firm Whitelaw Twining Law Corporation