A Black Country law firm has merged with a practice in the South West.
CMHT Solicitors, which has offices in Walsall and Aldridge, has joined forces with Star Legal.
Last summer, CMHT instructed business advisory and brokerage company Ortus Group to advise on its options for future planning which has now led to this merger.
Philip Bellshaw, a partner at CMHT, said: "As a three-partner provincial solicitors' practice, we have recognised for a while the potential benefits of being part of a larger organisation to ease the ever-increasing burden of regulatory compliance, offer greater stability to our staff, an opportunity for succession planning and, most importantly, to ensure we can continue to deliver a first-class service to our clients.
"We believe all of these objectives will be enabled by us joining the Star Legal group and we look forward to our future with them with confidence and a sense of renewed purpose."
Star Legal has 17 offices but this deal represents the first time it has had a presence in the West Midlands.
Joint managing partner Ian Foster added: "We are delighted that the lawyers and staff of CMHT are joining Star Legal.
"I am sure they will become a valuable addition to the Star Legal practice in the Midlands and will bring other key skills including their strong care and mental health practices."
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Colin White, managing director of Ortus Group, said: "Succession planning is all too often left until the last minute but because the partners of CMHT were on the ball and planning for their succession well before they need to retire, we were able to get a much better deal for them than would have otherwise been possible.
"Rather than settling for the first option to come their way like many firms do, we were able to generate interest from several quite different parties which meant the partners of CMHT ultimately had much more confidence that Star Legal was the right deal for their staff, their clients and themselves."