No Wedding: Kilpatrick & Townsend Firms Agree to Be Just Friends
Two well-known midsize law firms have called off their merger talks: Kilpatrick Stockton and Townsend and Townsend and Crew have decided a wedding just wouldn’t work although they remain friends. They attributed the aborted engagement to client conflicts.
The 190-attorney Townsend intellectual property boutique, at least, remains open to the possibility of a merger with another firm, according to the San Francisco Business Times:
“Our strategy is to grow our practice and to remain one of the nation’s preeminent IP firms,” says Brian Colucci, a spokesman for the firm. “If a merger will help us achieve that goal in the future, we’ll consider it.”
The merger would have been a good practice fit with the 500-attorney Kilpatrick, which is known for its copyright and trademark work, and the two firms had little geographic overlap.
The Townsend firm made layoffs in 2009 and has lost a number of partners this year, a Daily Journal (sub. req.) article notes.
Additional coverage:
ABAJournal.com: “Who Registered the Domain Name Kilpatricktownsend.com?”
Above the Law: “Law Firm Merger Mania: Townsend and Kilpatrick Kill Talks”
Am Law Daily: “Kilpatrick and Townsend End Merger Talks”
