Charles Russell Speechlys has named the four division heads that will be leading the newly merged firm as it enters its first day of business.

The firm, formed by the merger of legacy outfits Speechly Bircham and Charles Russell, will be focused on private client, real estate and construction, litigation and dispute resolution and business services, with two of these practice groups being led by former Speechlys partners and two being led by legacy Charles Russell partners.

Bart Peerless, who served as chairman at Charles Russell until 2011, will head up the private client practice, while Guildford office boss Duncan Elson will stay on as head of litigation and dispute resolution.

The ex-Speechlys division heads will be Tim Raper and Tom Shaw, keeping their legacy firm positions as real estate and construction head and business services chief respectively.

Of the four support service heads at the new firm, three will be from legacy Charles Russell: Elaine Emmington for HR; Tom Smith for finance; and Daryl Atkinson for marketing. Rob Cohen of legacy Speechlys will head up the combined firm's IT function.

Today, the combined firm will launch its new website, branding, and intranet for staff after the merger officially went live on Saturday (1 November).

The merger sailed through in July with a near unanimous vote at both firms, with the new firm's revenues expected to top £135m.