Mergers between law firms garner headlines. Just last week, Kansas City’s Husch Blackwell was in the news when it announced that it was merging with Whyte Hirschboeck Dudek S.C., a Wisconsin based business and litigation firm. The merger comes less than year after Husch Blackwell’s Chairman Maurice Watson described the firm’s newly adopted strategy
Law Firm Merger or Combination-A Solution That Can Suit Many Situations
As we have seen recently, law firm combinations have continued at a brisk pace. In layman’s terms, most of the combinations are referred to as mergers although many are at best “merger-like.” Indeed, “true” mergers appear to be the exception and not the rule as law firm combinations continue to be announced.
Gina Passarella wrote
Market Entry the Orrick Way: Pros and Cons
Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP made its entry into the Houston legal market last week. It announced that it had attracted 15 Houston based attorneys from 6 firms to plant the Orrick flag in the Bayou City. Pulled from Andrews Kurth, DLA Piper, Haynes and Boone, McDermott Will & Emery, McGuire
Debt and the Law Firm Leader
One of, if not the key responsibility of a law firm leader is ensuring that the viability of the firm is not threatened. No doubt, one of the primary threats to law firms today is excessive debt.
Clearly it is a rare business that functions without incorporating some form(s) of debt as part of
Another Record Year for Law Firm Mergers-Reasons Your Law Firm Should Not Be Next
In a newly posted piece, Casey Sullivan‘s Law Firm Mergers Reach Highest Point in Nearly a Decade reports that 2016 is to be yet another record year for law firm mergers. As the cascade of announcements show (as well as the Altman Weil research compiled in its Mergerline), merger as a law firm
Law Firm Merger: Five Compatibility Metrics
To merge, or not to merge? That is the question. More and more law firms face that issue these days. We often advise law firms facing that watershed possibility and take them from considering merger in the abstract to addressing its reality. But because roughly 50% of mergers reportedly fail, properly evaluating a potential
Law Firm Merger-What Makes Merger Success Likely?
A headline from last week announced the law firm merger of Dykema with Texas’ Cox Smith. Although Michigan based Dykema already had a foothold in Texas, its merger with well-regarded Cox Smith represents a significant commitment by Dykema to its Texas strategy. The Dykema/Cox Smith combination also is further evidence that law firm mergers
Strategy of Merger: Four Steps for Success for Law Firm Leaders
Distressed Law Firm Acquisitions-The Times May Be Perfect (Part Two)
As reviewed in Part One last week, the example of the Morgan Lewis/Bingham McCutchen mass lateral transaction may serve to stimulate the pursuit of distressed firms by healthy firms. Although distressed law firm transactions are nothing new, the model of that deal plus two new legal developments may foster greater distressed law firm activity.
The
Strategic Attorney Departure-Deciding to Not Join in Your Law Firm’s Merger
Law firm mergers have continued this year and are approaching last year’s record. For law firms, any number of motivations can lead to merger, but the common denominator is the perception that merger serves the greater good. Despite the onslaught of mergers, a vast number of mergers are less than perfect. And while a