Beijing Yida Law Firm (亿达律所) and Mingji Law Office (铭基律所) have joined forces to form a new partnership under the name of Yida. The merger has strengthened and extended the new firm's services into a wider range of practice areas including finance, general corporate, shipping, real estate and insurance.

Led by managing director Li Yafei (李亚飞), Yida currently has about 80 lawyers including about 20 partners. A spokeswoman for Yida said that the merger was accomplished smoothly and successfully as both firms were familiar with each other’s operations. Beijing Yida played a major role in the creation of Mingji Law Office in 2008.

"We will integrate both firm's resources to create a more client-focused practice. We believe that large- scale law firms are better placed to succeed in this very competitive market,” she said.

(Story by Cecilia Liu, Editing by Joshua Scott)

Related stories:

• Four boutique firms merge to create new force in Shanghai (21 October 2010)
• Shanghai's Zhongjian and Zhonghui complete merger (29 October 2010)