New Year Brings Many Midsize Firm Mergers
At least five midsize law firms have announced mergers or lawyer acquisitions in the past week.
Firms typically wait until after the new year to merge, but an effort to save costs during a poor economy may be an additional incentive, Connecticut legal consultant Peter Giuliani told the National Law Journal.
A merger results in “economies of scale,” Giuliani said. “There are lots of infrastructure advantages in putting two firms together. There will be redundancies in the central administration. You only need one billing system or marketing director.”
Firms may also be seeking to add practice areas that boom during bad times, the story says. The National Law Journal lists these recent midsize mergers:
• New York-based Anderson Kill & Olick, merging with California-based Wood & Bender.
• Denver-based Sherman & Howard, merging with Denver firm Netzorg McKeever Koclanes & Bernhardt and Phoenix firm Mohr, Hackett, Pederson, Blakley & Randolph.
• New Jersey-based Sills Cummis & Gross, merging with York-based Silverberg Stonehill Goldsmith & Haber.
• South Carolina-based Nexsen Pruet, merging with North Carolina firm Sanford Holshouser.
• Oregon-based Miller Nash, adding four lawyers from Newcomb, Sabin, Schwartz & Landsverk.
Other recent new year’s mergers noted by ABAJournal.com:
• Detroit-based Clark Hill, acquiring 10-lawyer Norling Kolsrud Sifferman & Davis in Scottsdale, Ariz.
• Michigan-based Dickinson Wright, merging with Stewart Estes & Donnell in Nashville, Tenn.
