Womble Bond Dickinson

Womble Bond Dickinson is a transatlantic law firm formed in 2017 as a result of a merger between UK-based Bond Dickinson LLP and US-based Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice, LLP. The combination followed a strategic alliance announcement made in 2016. The firm has 32 locations across the United States and the United Kingdom offering services in 12 different sectors.

The combination created Womble Bond Dickinson (International) LLP; a company limited by guarantee in which Womble Bond Dickinson (UK) LLP and Womble Bond Dickinson (US) LLP, operate as separate non-profit-sharing partnerships.

Overview
Womble Bond Dickinson employs approximately 1,000 lawyers located in 27 offices in the UK and US. Womble Bond Dickinson is a member of Lex Mundi, a global organization of independent law firms.

History
UK-based law firm Bond Dickinson LLP commenced trading on May 1, 2013. This alliance was a result of a merger between Dickinson Dees and Bond Pearce. Prior to the merger, Dickinson Dees (whose history dates back to 1975) registered as an LLP in 2006. Bond Pearce (founded in 1887) registered as an LLP in 2005.

Womble Carlyle's history dates back to 1876 and was named after its early partners including B.S. Womble and Irving E. Carlyle.

In January 2016, Womble Carlyle named Betty Temple chairwoman and CEO, and she became one of only a handful of women to sit at the helm of a large national law firm. Temple's appointment represented several milestones for Womble Carlyle. She became the youngest chairperson in the firm's 140-year history, the first chairperson to be located outside of the firm's original Winston-Salem office, and the first woman to lead the firm.

As part of Womble Carlyle Bond Dickinson, Temple is now United States CEO and Co-Chair with UK Managing Partner, Paul Stewart (appointed in February 2022).

Controversy
Stephen Dilley, a partner with Womble Bond Dickinson, has been criticised for his role in the UK Post Office Scandal including by the professional magazine, The Lawyer. Dilley failed to disclose potentially relevant evidence during his conduct of the civil proceedings against Lee Castleton and resulting in a miscarriage of justice. Within a year of owning his sub post office in East Yorkshire, the then subpostmaster noticed glitches in the computer system that eventually showed around £25,000 in discrepancies. He described "begging" the Post Office helpline to explain to him what was going on, but instead the Post Office demanded, with scant evidence, repayment of funds for which they alleged he was "liable". He ended up in a High Court case conducted by Dilley that "sapped" Castleton of all his money. Castleton was made to repay that money plus legal costs of £321,000, which ended up bankrupting him and tearing up his family.

Stephen Dilley later attended the associated public inquiry as a witness as part of the examination of knowledge of and responsibility for failures in disclosure in the conduct of the litigation.

Part of the evidence supplied to the inquiry included an email written by Stephen Dilley in 31 October 2006 showing that he was aware that Horizon could lose transactions, however this too was not disclosed to the court as part of the Castleton civil proceedings.

Dilley was then working for Bond Pearce; "A major new law firm launched on May 1 [2013] with the merger of Bond Pearce and Dickinson Dees to create Bond Dickinson." Four years later, "the partners of UK-based Bond Dickinson LLP and US-based Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice LLP have voted to combine as equal members in a new entity under the name Womble Bond Dickinson."

Dilley denies any wrongdoing. According to The Law Society Gazette, Dilley explained his failure to disclose thousands of issues raised about the Horizon IT system was out of concern he would be 'swamped' by disclosure; it seemed "onerous". However, between 2021 and 15 September 2023 his published case "list of experience" was amended to delete all mention of Post Office v Castleton [2007] EWHC 5(QB). Mr Dilley's view of his own "behaviour and attitude towards the Castleton case" and its impact on the innocent defendant and his family is summarised in an article by Nick Wallis, author of "Great Post Office Scandal" as "Nothing personal, Mr Castleton. It's just justice..."