Baker Tilly is seeking to partner with a law firm in the US as the global accounting firm aims to expand the range of services it can offer clients.

“The legal network for Baker Tilly will be in the US in the near future,” the firm’s chief executive officer, Alan Whitman, said in an interview.

The move would boost competition for US law firms, who are already seeing non-lawyer-owned legal operations gaining footholds in states such as Arizona and Utah that are testing new service-delivery models.

Baker Tilly International a year ago announced an alliance with UK law practice Freeths. The move made Freeths the first stand-alone law firm in Europe to become an independent member of the accountancy’s network.

The accounting firm touted the Freeths move as advancing an expansion into commercial law. The 600-plus attorneys at the law firm advise businesses in areas including mergers and acquisitions, insolvency and competition policy.

Whitman is CEO of Baker Tilly US and chairman of Baker Tilly International’s board of directors. He didn’t name US law operations Baker Tilly International may work with, though he said the firm aims for an arrangement similar to Freeths.

“There are at least a few firms that could work well with us,” he said. “Even if we’re not merging, we need to have cultural alignment so we can work together.”

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