Portland-based law firm Verrill Dana LLP has agreed to acquire the staff of the Westport, Connecticut-based law firm Levett Rockwood P.C. in a deal that would put Verrill Dana in a tie with Portland-based Pierce Atwood LLP as the largest Maine-based law firm.

As of Jan. 1, the deal’s projected completion date, Verrill Dana will have roughly 140 attorneys on staff, matching the current number at Pierce Atwood, according to the two law firms.

More importantly, the combined entity will be better-positioned to offer “breadth and depth” of services to its clients, said Verrill Dana Managing Partner K.C. Jones. He would not disclose the terms of the acquisition or any financial information about the two firms.

Verrill Dana has principal offices in Portland and Boston, with satellite offices in Augusta; Providence, Rhode Island; Stamford, Connecticut; and Washington, D.C. The law firm’s Stamford employees will relocate to Westport to join their new colleagues from Levett Rockwood, Jones said.

The deal is not technically a merger because Verrill Dana is only acquiring the employees of Levett Rockwood and not the corporation itself, he said.

“Effectively it’s the same thing,” Jones said. “As of Jan. 1, we will be one firm together.”

The combined entity will have about 260 employees, including Verrill Dana’s 120 existing attorneys, 20 attorneys from Levett Rockwood and 120 additional staff members from the two firms. It will operate under the Verrill Dana name.

The addition of Levett Rockwood’s attorneys will beef up Verrill Dana’s expertise in a number of areas, including corporate tax law, white-collar criminal defense and health care law, representatives of the two firms said.

“Our goal is to be a pre-eminent law firm in New England,” Jones said.

Founded in Wiscasset in 1862, Verrill Dana provides a wide range of legal services in addition to lobbying services in Augusta and Washington, D.C. It is one of New England’s oldest law firms.

Jones said the firm has worked with Levett Rockwood on prior cases, including the sale of Saint Raphael Healthcare System’s assets to Yale-New Haven Hospital Inc. in New Haven, Connecticut.

Members of the two firms found that they shared similar interests and business values, said Jones and Chris Graham, managing shareholder of Levett Rockwood.

“It became clear from the beginning that this would be a perfect match for the two firms,” Jones said.

Graham, who will become a partner and vice chairman of the combined firm’s business and corporate group, agreed, saying, “Verrill Dana … was really a strong cultural fit.”

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Correction: This story was revised at 10:29 a.m., Dec. 2, 2014, to reflect that the combined entity of Verrill Dana and Levett Rockwood will have about 260 employees, including Verrill Dana’s 120 existing attorneys, 20 attorneys from Levett Rockwood and 120 additional staff members from the two firms. A previous version of the story contained incorrect numbers.