Husch Blackwell Sanders LLP, a newly merged Missouri-based law firm with more than 630 attorneys, plans to open a Denver office by the end of the month, its co-chairman said Monday.

The firm is the product of the merger of St. Louis-based Husch & Eppenberger LLC and Kansas City, Mo.-based Blackwell Sanders LLP, which closed March 3. The deal was first announced in September and agreed to by partners in December.

Neither firm has had an office in Denver before.

David Fenley, who is a co-chairman of the combined firm along with Joseph Conran, said the Denver office will have from eight to 10 attorneys within two to three months.

"We've got a couple clients that wanted us to be there [in Denver]," Fenley said. "So we investigated that and it makes sense to us."

Fenley declined to say exactly when the Denver office will open, what practice areas the office will focus on or whether the Denver location will eventually add attorneys. He said further details should be announced next month.

Once Husch Blackwell Sanders opens new locations in Denver and Chicago, it will have full-time offices in 12 U.S. cities plus a London office. Most of its officers are in Missouri and the Midwest.

The combined firm said it expects 2008 revenues of $275 million.

Both firms were known for corporate practice, with Husch making litigation a specialty. Firm officials have said that the merger may lead to further expansion.