Bermuda?s legal landscape continued to change shape yesterday with the merger of two Bermuda law firms ? Cox Hallett Wilkinson and Hollis & Co.

The latest merger, which was first announced in late May and took effect yesterday, follows on the heels of April?s high-profile joining of one of Bermuda?s largest law firms, Appleby Spurling & Kempe with Caymans Island firm Hunter & Hunter, to become Appleby Spurling Hunter (ASH).

The trend of consolidation is one that is likely to continue with Wendell Hollis, who now becomes a partner of the combined firm, telling The Royal Gazette when the merger was announced: ?I think we?ll see more consolidations in the local market.?

Mr. Hollis said there was a growing separation between firms practicing international law and those focused on the domestic market and even work in the local sector was becoming ?increasingly sophisticated?.

On the international front, Appleby Spurling Hunter is the first and, so far, only Bermuda firm to take the step of merging with a law office outside the Island but predictions are it will not be the last.

However, merger activity locally is already well established with a fair amount of domestic consolidation between the Island?s small and medium sized firms ? with there now being hundreds of Bermuda-based lawyers practising out of some 40 offices ? in recent years.

In late 2001 Marshall Aicardi and Diel & Myers joined forces. And earlier that year, Hector, Dwyer & Pettingill and MLH Quin & Co. merged to become Wakefield Quin.

But not all law firms are taking this path, or even considering it. Conyers Dill & Pearman (CD&P) ? which is considered, along with ASH, to be one of Bermuda?s most prominent and established legal houses ? has publicly ruled out its taking the merger route.

On the contrary, CD&P has said its intent is to follow a path of organic growth.

But CD&P may be the exception, with there being widely held expectations that the Island could continue to see more of these transactions, especially at the international level.

The latest move sees Hollis & Co. merging with larger firm Cox Hallett Wilkinson (CHW) after breaking its association with Mello Jones & Martin four years ago.

At the time, Mr. Hollis ? a founding partner of the firm then called Mello, Hollis, Jones and Martin ? said he was making a split with the firm to set up a ?one stop shop? for international business, through a partnership with accounting firm Ernst & Young, to offer both accounting and legal services.

But a shift in corporate governance rules on accounting firms, with an emphasis on auditor independence, prompted the accounting giant?s international governing body to tell its member firms that they should shave off their law practices.

In May, Mr. Hollis told The Royal Gazette he welcomed the merger with CHW would and said he would not be so involved on the management side.

?I?ve been doing it for 28 years and I?m looking forward to just practising law,? he said.

Now Hollis & Co. will cease to exist in name, with the combined group using the Cox Hallett Wilkinson name and consolidating into one office at 18 Parliament Street.

There has been no word on whether or not the development will result in redundancies, and calls to the firm by The Royal Gazette for more information yesterday were not returned.

It is understood that CHW managing partner David Cooper, who is currently off the Island, will continue in that role for the combined group.

The firm said that partners would now be David Cooper, John Cooper, Wendell Hollis, David Kessaram, Harry Kessaram, Ernest Morrison, Julie Stanton and Kim White.

Cox Hallett Wilkinson was itself the product of an earlier merger, when in 1998 the firms Hallett Whitney & Patton joined with Cox & Wilkinson.

As for future merger activity, in March, Appleby?s managing partner Peter Bubenzer said his firm?s merger with a foreign firm was likely to pave the way for other partnerships between Bermuda-based law offices and firms in other jurisdictions.

?I would absolutely expect that it is going to take place,? he said, adding that this was already a trend seen in other offshore jurisdictions.

?There have been a number of substantial firms in other offshore jurisdictions who have doubled up,? he said, including the merger late last year of Channel Islands firm Ogier and Caymans firm Boxalls, while two Channel Island firms ? Carey Langlois and Olsens ? joined to create Carey Olsen.

?These firms clearly have the same vision and I think it is highly likely that they are going to look to pick a Bermuda partner. I firmly expect we would see a transaction with a Bermuda firm in the future.?

Yesterday, in a statement, CD&P made it clear that it continued to steer clear of that path.

?Whilst we note that some firms have sought to grow through merger, it has been the policy of Conyers Dill & Pearman to grow organically and develop our own foundations in our respective markets.

?This way we have been able to preserve the tradition, culture and reputation that is admired and associated with our firm as well as benefit from the synergies this strategy provides. Similarly, we find that we can be less territorial and provide clear, logical, experienced and dispassionate advice on our jurisdictions.?

CD&P, which celebrated its 75th anniversary last November, said it had been able to develop a ?significant presence? organically, with operations in Bermuda and ?an ever growing presence in Cayman and BVI since 1995? as well as offices in Anguilla, Hong Kong, London and Singapore.

?We already have significant global presence in the offshore legal world and consequently we have no need to contemplate a merger,? the firm?s statement said.