So far as regulation agency mergers are involved, 2023 is off to an action-packed begin.
In response to a lately launched report from authorized consultancy Fairfax Associates, there have been as many giant regulation agency mergers accomplished throughout this yr’s first quarter than in all of 2022 mixed. Fairfax characterizes “giant mergers” as these the place each regulation corporations have at the very least 100 attorneys every. Final yr, the one giant regulation agency mergers accomplished have been between Arent Fox and Schiff Hardin, and Taft Stettinius & Hollister and Jaffe Raitt Heuer & Weiss.
Reuters has the small print on the massive regulation agency mergers which have taken place in 2023 to date:
Up to now this yr 1,400-lawyer Holland & Knight merged with 257-lawyer Waller Lansden Dortch & Davis in March, and 1,050-lawyer Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe mixed with 100-lawyer Buckley in February. …
Smith, Gambrell & Russell, a 285-lawyer agency, additionally simply accomplished a merger with 110-lawyer agency Freeborn & Peters. That deal was set to shut March 1 in the course of the first quarter, however the corporations mentioned in a Monday assertion they accomplished the mix April 1.
The merger between giant Southeastern corporations Maynard Cooper & Gale and Nexsen Pruet simply missed the primary quarter cutoff, because the corporations mixed on April 1 to create Maynard Nexsen.
To not be forgotten, after all, are the proposed giant regulation agency mergers that flopped within the first quarter. These embody failed talks between Shearman & Sterling and Hogan Lovells, in addition to failed talks between Womble Bond Dickinson and UK agency BDB Pitmans.
Which Biglaw corporations would be the subsequent to mix? We are able to’t wait to see if the remainder of the yr is as profitable for mergers as the primary quarter was.
Big law firms quicker to merge in 2023 so far, report shows [Reuters]
Staci Zaretsky is a senior editor at Above the Regulation, the place she’s labored since 2011. She’d love to listen to from you, so please be happy to email her with any ideas, questions, feedback, or critiques. You possibly can observe her on Twitter or join together with her on LinkedIn.