The top 10 legal news stories of 2017

It’s hard to imagine a year more packed with major legal news than 2017, much of it generated by President Donald Trump's administration. We may never get used to the frenetic pace. Here are 10 stories—themes, really—that dominated legal news reports.

Dec 22, 2017 9:00 AM CST

Foley & Lardner is in merger talks with Gardere

Foley & Lardner is discussing a possible merger with Gardere Wynne Sewell. Foley & Lardner spokeswoman Jill Chanen confirmed the talks in a statement, report Law.com (sub. req.), Texas Lawbook and BizTimes. “We continuously evaluate opportunities that will advance the interests of our clients and the firm,” Chanen said. “As…

Nov 1, 2017 3:30 PM CDT

Bryan Cave and UK law firm confirm merger talks

Update: Bryan Cave and U.K. law firm Berwin Leighton Paiser have confirmed they are discussing a merger. The combination would create a 1,500-lawyer firm with 32 offices in 12 countries, according to Legal Week (sub. req.), the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and a press release. The merger would be subject to…

Oct 16, 2017 1:11 PM CDT

Ballard Spahr announces planned merger with Lindquist & Vennum

Philadelphia-based Ballard Spahr has agreed to merge with Lindquist & Vennum, a Minneapolis-based law firm with more than 150 lawyers, effective Jan. 1. The merged firm will use the Ballard Spahr name and will have more than 650 lawyers in 15 offices, report the Star Tribune, the Legal Intelligencer (sub.…

Sep 6, 2017 9:10 AM CDT

Sessions says leak probes have tripled and four have been charged

The U.S. Justice Department has more than tripled the number of active investigations of government leaks since the end of the Obama administration, Attorney General Jeff Sessions said Friday.

Aug 4, 2017 11:27 AM CDT

Clark Hill announces merger with West Coast law firm

Clark Hill is merging with West Coast law firm Morris Polich & Purdy, a law firm with about 100 lawyers. The combined law firm will have more than 450 lawyers in 16 offices in nine states, according to a press release. The Am Law Daily (sub. req.) had a story…

Jul 6, 2017 12:15 PM CDT

Norton Rose and Chadbourne complete merger

Norton Rose Fulbright and Chadbourne & Parke have completed their merger, creating a law firm with about 4,000 lawyers in 59 offices located in 33 countries. According to the merger announcement on Friday, the firm will have about 1,000 lawyers in its U.S. practice, including more than 300 in New…

Jun 30, 2017 9:19 AM CDT

Workplace management software company iManage buys AI company RAVN

Workplace management software company iManage has acquired U.K.-based artificial intelligence company RAVN Systems. The companies announced the deal last month. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. According to the press release (PDF), iManage plans on integrating RAVN’s artificially intelligent platform, which is capable of combing through massive amounts of…

Jun 22, 2017 11:30 AM CDT

Norton Rose ‘working through the technicalities’ of a merger with Chadbourne

Norton Rose Fulbright has announced it is “working through the technicalities” of a planned merger with Chadbourne & Parke. The announcement came after the Lawyer reported the merger had stalled because of client conflicts, Bloomberg Big Law Business reports. It also came the same day that a New York federal…

Jun 14, 2017 4:23 PM CDT

Tyler Technologies acquires online dispute resolution company Modria

Online dispute resolution company Modria has been acquired by Tyler Technologies. In a post published Monday by Bob Ambrogi of LawSites, the two companies announced their union at the end of May. Modria, which was co-founded in 2011 by Colin Rule, the designer of eBay’s automated online dispute resolution program,…

Jun 12, 2017 3:25 PM CDT

LexisNexis acquires case analytics firm Ravel Law

LexisNexis Legal & Professional has acquired legal research and litigation analytics firm Ravel Law, and will integrate Ravel's data visualization and profiling technology into LexisNexis services.

“Ravel Law will accelerate our vision of the data-driven lawyer of the future,” says Jeff Pfeifer, vice president of LexisNexis product management, in an interview after Thursday’s announcement. “By leveraging these platforms, an attorney can get insights about a variety of problems, from judicial tendencies to arguments that are effective in a judge’s chambers.”

Jun 8, 2017 2:49 PM CDT

Norton Rose Fulbright confirms merger talks with Australian law firm Henry Davis York

Norton Rose Fulbright and Australian law firm Henry Davis York have issued a statement confirming they are in merger talks. Partners will vote on the merger this summer, Legal Week reports. “Global law firm Norton Rose Fulbright and leading Australian law firm Henry Davis York are exploring a potential combination…

Jun 8, 2017 9:28 AM CDT

Womble Carlyle to merge with UK-based law firm Bond Dickinson

Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice is merging with U.K.-based law firm Bond Dickinson. The new firm will be called Womble Bond Dickinson, though both firms will operate as separate partnerships with separate management, according to a press release. Bloomberg Big Law Business, the Winston Salem-Journal and the News & Observer…

Jun 1, 2017 12:21 PM CDT

How to pull off a successful law firm merger

Experts agree that a merger should not be an endgame for its own sake. Instead, it should serve a broader business goal. For some firms, that might be reaching new markets or adding practice groups that clients are demanding. For other firms, that might be recruiting higher-caliber lawyers or creating efficiency.

“A law firm merger needs to further a strategic imperative that the firm arrived at in a clear-thinking way, and that imperative should not just be growth.”

Jun 1, 2017 5:10 AM CDT

Not ready for a merger? Law firm networks offer an expansion alternative

“With a global merger, there are so many hurdles you have to overcome in each jurisdiction,” says Hope Krebs, who co-chairs the international practice group at Duane Morris. “If you’re going to expend those resources, you’d better make sure you know what you’re getting. With a network, you know the quality of the lawyers. In a network, although resources are consumed, it’s nothing like a merger.”

Jun 1, 2017 5:05 AM CDT