Mergers & Acquisitions

Saul Ewing and Arnstein & Lehr confirm merger talks; must smaller firms ‘grow or die’?

Philadelphia-based Saul Ewing and Chicago-based Arnstein & Lehr have confirmed they are in merger talks. The combination would create a law firm with more than 400 lawyers, the Legal Intelligencer (sub req.) reports. Saul Ewing would gain offices in Chicago and Florida through the merger with Arnstein & Lehr, which…

May 24, 2017 8:00 AM CDT

International insurance law firm Kennedys to merge with New Jersey-based CMK

International insurance law firm Kennedys is gaining five U.S. offices through its merger with 100-lawyer Carroll, McNulty & Kull. Kennedys already has an office in Miami. The merger is scheduled to go in effect June 1 with New Jersey-based Carroll McNulty, and will give Kennedys offices in that state as…

May 5, 2017 10:56 AM CDT

DLA Piper to leave Georgia after Tbilisi office defects to Dentons

DLA Piper will withdraw from Georgia after losing all 11 of its lawyers based in the republic to rival Dentons. As Legalweek reported Wednesday, DLA Piper’s decision to pull out of Georgia comes during the same week the firm decided to abandon Berlin after losing its lawyers in the German…

Mar 23, 2017 12:45 PM CDT

Legal staffing company acquires competitor from accounting firm

A Chicago legal staffing firm has acquired an accounting firm’s contract attorney business. On Wednesday, Crain’s reported that Legalpeople has bought ProjecTemps, a Chicago-based contract attorney company owned by accounting firm Plante Moran. Terms of the deal were not announced, but according to Crain’s, the acquisition of ProjectTemps will add…

Mar 23, 2017 11:30 AM CDT

Dentons announces tie-up with Dutch firm Boekel

It’s March, so that means there must be another Dentons combination on the horizon. On Thursday, the firm entered the Netherlands by announcing a planned union with Dutch law firm Boekel. In a press release, the firm stated that partners at both firms have approved the tie-up, which is expected…

Mar 2, 2017 11:37 AM CST

Abacus Next enters accounting world with two acquisitions

Law case management software company Abacus Next has made a move into the accounting world. In a Tuesday press release, Abacus announced that it had acquired Cloudnine Realtime, a cloud services provider for certified public accountant firms, and Results Software, a client relationship management software company for QuickBooks users. According…

Feb 22, 2017 5:15 PM CST

Norton Rose and Chadbourne announce merger

Norton Rose Fulbright and Chadbourne & Parke announced on Tuesday that they will merge into a firm with more than 4,000 lawyers in 32 countries. In the United States, the combined firm will have more than 1,000 lawyers, including more than 300 lawyers in New York, according to a press…

Feb 21, 2017 10:35 AM CST

Judge blocks Anthem and Cigna merger

A federal judge on Wednesday blocked the merger of health insurers Anthem and Cigna, giving the U.S. Justice Department a second antitrust victory in the health-care market in less than a month’s time. U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson cited antitrust concerns in her decision (PDF), report the National law…

Feb 9, 2017 10:33 AM CST

Norton Rose and Chadbourne confirm merger discussions

Updated: Norton Rose Fulbright and Chadbourne & Parke have confirmed they are discussing a merger. Both law firms released statements on Tuesday afternoon, after the Am Law Daily published a story about the talks that relied on anonymous sources. According to the Am Law Daily, considerations driving the talks are…

Feb 2, 2017 1:18 PM CST

2016 was a busy year for law firm mergers and acquisitions

2016 marked another busy year in law firm mergers and acquisitions. According to a Thursday press release from Altman Weil, there were 85 such combinations announced in 2016. In fact, Altman Weil MergerLine found that 2016 marked the fourth consecutive year that there were more than 80 law firm mergers…

Jan 9, 2017 8:45 AM CST

The top legal stories of 2016

Updated: As the ABA Journal staff looked back over the past year, these were the 10 legal stories that seemed the most important and prominent. A summary of each is below. 1. Trump wins. If someone had told you one year ago that the 45th president of the United States…

Dec 23, 2016 8:30 AM CST

Sutherland and Eversheds agree to merger

Atlanta-based Sutherland Asbill & Brennan and U.K. law firm Eversheds have agreed to merge. The merger had “exceptionally strong approval” from both partnerships, according to a press release. The merged firm will have 2,300 lawyers and 61 offices in 29 countries. The new firm will be called Eversheds Sutherland beginning…

Dec 16, 2016 9:14 AM CST

Litigation funder Burford acquires competitor Gerchen Keller in $160 million deal

Litigation funders Burford Capital have acquired competitors Gerchen Keller Capital. Burford announced the $160 million deal in a Wednesday press release. According to the press release, the acquisition, which contains an additional $15 million in contingencies, creates a litigation funding giant with a combined $1.2 billion in investments. The press…

Dec 14, 2016 1:02 PM CST

Crowell and Herrick Feinstein are reportedly discussing a merger

Crowell & Moring is reportedly in merger talks with New York-based Herrick Feinstein, a law firm with about 132 lawyers known for its work handling real estate, sports and art law matters. Anonymous sources told the Real Deal and the Am Law Daily (sub. req.) about the merger discussions. If…

Dec 13, 2016 2:12 PM CST

KC law firm Spencer Fane grows to 190 lawyers with acquisition of 70-year-old Denver firm

Kansas City-based Spencer Fane will have more than 190 full-time lawyers as a result of its acquisition of a 70-year-old Denver law firm, Berenbaum Weinshienk. The addition of 30 lawyers from Berenbaum Weinshienk will give Spencer Fane 55 lawyers in Colorado, the Am Law Daily reports. A press release is…

Dec 2, 2016 7:00 AM CST