Atlanta-based Smith Currie & Hancock's merger with a Seattle law firm will give the combined 76-lawyer firm an advantage over Big Law peers, said the firm's leader, adding it creates one of the top construction law and government contract-oriented firms in the U.S.

The Atlanta firm's merger with Seattle's Oles Morrison Rinker & Baker, announced last month, will give Smith Currie a greater competitive advantage over larger firms, which often do not place as much of an emphasis on their construction law and government contracts practice areas as the combined firm will do, said managing partner Eric Nelson in an interview.