The Irish firm, with 16 partners and 50 lawyers, has been working in collaboration with Fieldfisher for a number of years.

The merger brings the number of Fieldfisher offices to 25, including a Belfast office which opened last August.

Michael Chissick, managing partner at Fieldfisher, said: “We are delighted to welcome McDowell Purcell into the Fieldfisher family. Ireland was the last piece in our international growth strategy and we are now in all the key commercial centres across Europe.

“Ireland is also one of the most successful economies in the EU. It is primarily an export-driven economy dominated by services including technology media & telecoms (TMT) and financial services – both of which are key sectors for Fieldfisher. Its corporate tax rate is the second lowest in the EU which, together with a young workforce, good infrastructure and English speaking population, makes it an excellent investment for us.

“And of course with Brexit on the horizon, it will also help us to continue to deliver services to our European clients. Our US clients, and tech companies in particular, regard Ireland as a business friendly EU jurisdiction. A large percentage of our client base have Irish operations and have used Ireland as their EU HQ when expanding across the EU markets.”

JP McDowell, managing partner of McDowell Purcell, added: “McDowell Purcell has always strived to look at innovative ways to succeed and grow. We have worked collaboratively with Fieldfisher for a number of years now, and as a result of the strong relationship that has developed between the two firms, this merger is a natural fit for us.

“Fieldfisher is the firm to watch at the moment whose values, dynamism and increasing focus on alternative legal solutions are in line with our own principles and vision. The merger will allow us to provide clients with new product lines and process-efficient services, and to compete more effectively with the global firms that are now establishing a foothold in the Irish legal market.

“We are looking at developing our offering in technology, finance and life sciences and will be announcing new hires in these areas in the coming months.”