Taylor Wessing and US firm Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati have entered into an agreement to jointly market their services to clients.

The transatlantic deal will see the duo operate combined deal teams for work in the life sciences and technology sectors.

Although discussions regarding a more formal arrangement have been ongoing for some time, the deal was approved late last Thursday, according to one person close to the process.

Taylor Wessing managing partner Shane Gleghorn said the two firms will "use their endeavours to work on transatlantic transactions in these sectors together", and that there is no expected time limit to the agreement.

Gleghorn added: "If a client who requires work in these sectors … requires representation in the US and Europe, then we'd work together on those projects," but he stopped short of calling the agreement exclusive.

He added that Taylor Wessing will continue to have relationships with other US firms in other sectors, which is "fundamental" to the firm's strategy.

Taylor Wessing currently has a representative office based in Palo Alto, and Wilson Sonsini made its London debut last summer.

Although the two firms have a long referral history together, going back 20 years according to one person close to both firms, the arrangement had not been official.

He added: "The combination of the two firms will produce [an] extremely high service level for clients."