Mergers & Acquisitions

2018’s most important legal tech stories

What were 2018's most important legal tech stories? ABA Journal legal affairs writer Jason Tashea takes a look back on the biggest news in law and technology, including Facebook’s never-ending missteps, the creation of new data privacy standards and the destruction of federal net neutrality.

Dec 21, 2018 6:30 AM CST

Legal tech company Elevate Services acquires data analysis company LexPredict

Legal consulting and technology company Elevate Services has bought data analysis and consulting company LexPredict. The companies announced the acquisition in a joint statement on Wednesday. Terms were not disclosed. According to Pratik Patel, vice president of innovation at Elevate, the two companies had been working together for over a…

Nov 16, 2018 6:00 AM CST

Burr & Forman will grow to more than 350 lawyers with acquisition of South Carolina law firm

Burr & Forman has announced it will acquire the South Carolina-based McNair Law Firm, a move that will swell its ranks to more than 350 lawyers. Burr & Forman, based in Birmingham, Alabama, will have 19 offices in eight states when the merger is complete on Jan. 1, report the…

Nov 1, 2018 3:00 PM CDT

Clio acquires Lexicata, launches customer relationship product Clio Grow

Clio has acquired Lexicata, a cloud-based client intake and management tool, and is launching Clio Grow, a customer relationship management feature. The announcement was made Thursday morning by Clio CEO Jack Newton at the Clio Cloud Conference in New Orleans. Celebrating 10 years in business, this is Clio’s first acquisition.…

Oct 4, 2018 1:36 PM CDT

Suit: Blank Rome tried to ‘play cute’ in de facto merger to defraud Dickstein partners

Sixteen former partners at Dickstein Shapiro allege in a lawsuit that Blank Rome structured a merger of the two law firms as an “asset sale” to avoid repaying money in their capital accounts. The former partners say the combination is a de facto merger and they are owed $4 million,…

Sep 13, 2018 1:22 PM CDT

Venable’s acquisition of IP firm boosts headcount by 104 lawyers

Venable is acquiring the intellectual property firm Fitzpatrick, Cella, Harper & Scinto. The combination will add 104 Fitzpatrick lawyers to Venable, expanding its IP practice to about 175 lawyers and its total headcount to nearly 800 lawyers, report Bloomberg News, the American Lawyer and a press release. The merger is…

Aug 22, 2018 1:02 PM CDT

Facebook buys AI startup in Allen & Overy’s incubator

Facebook will acquire Bloomsbury AI, a startup in Allen & Overy’s Fuse incubator.

Jul 5, 2018 10:28 AM CDT

Nelson Mullins, Broad and Cassel set to form ‘super-regional’ law firm

Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough is merging with Broad and Cassel to form a firm with more than 725 lawyers.

Jun 11, 2018 12:14 PM CDT

Clark Hill and Strasburger & Price announce merger

Clark Hill and Strasburger & Price announced a merger Tuesday that will create a law firm with nearly 650 lawyers. The firm will be known as Clark Hill except in Texas, where it will be known as Clark Hill Strasburger, according to a press release. The combined firm will have…

Apr 10, 2018 3:17 PM CDT

Foley & Lardner, Gardere announce merger

Foley & Lardner and Gardere Wynne Sewell will merge effective on Sunday. The combined firm will have about 1,100 lawyers and revenues of $830 million, a figure that puts the merged firm among the top 50 in the United States, according to a press release. Its 24 offices will be…

Mar 30, 2018 11:05 AM CDT

Bryan Cave and BLP approve fully integrated merger

Bryan Cave and U.K. law firm Berwin Leighton Paisner have agreed to a merger that will create a law firm with 32 offices in 11 countries. The new firm will be called Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner, according to a press release and a story by the American Lawyer. The firm…

Feb 26, 2018 11:30 AM CST

Hunton & Williams, Andrews Kurth agree to merger

Partners at Hunton & Williams and Andrews Kurth Kenyon have approved a merger of the two law firms.

The new firm will be known as Hunton Andrews Kurth, report Texas Lawyer and the Richmond [Virginia] Times-Dispatch.

Feb 21, 2018 8:42 AM CST

Several groups of lawyers leave Andrews Kurth Kenyon amid reported merger agreement

Several groups of lawyers have left Andrews Kurth Kenyon in Texas in advance of a reported merger deal with Hunton & Williams.

Feb 7, 2018 2:55 PM CST

Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer undergoes a name change, offers buyouts to 140 legal secretaries

Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer has shortened its name and is seeking to reduce the number of legal secretaries working for the law firm. “Kaye Scholer” was dropped from the brand name, email address and web domain, though the firm is keeping the longer name as its full legal name,…

Feb 7, 2018 9:47 AM CST

Tax issues reportedly slow merger talks between Bryan Cave and UK law firm

Tax issues have reportedly held up merger talks between Bryan Cave and U.K. law firm Berwin Leighton Paisner. The firms are discussing full financial integration rather than a merger using the looser Swiss verein structure, and that will create tax issues, the American Lawyer reports. The story relies on unidentified…

Jan 17, 2018 12:46 PM CST