Mergers & Acquisitions

Greenberg Traurig acknowledges merger talks with UK law firm

Greenberg Traurig is in preliminary merger talks with British law firm Berwin Leighton Paisner. Greenberg Traurig, which currently has about 1,950 lawyers in 38 offices, confirmed the talks on Wednesday, report the Am Law Daily (sub. req.) and Bloomberg Big Law Business. A combined law firm would have more than…

Feb 3, 2016 1:20 PM CST

Axiom expands into Canada by acquiring part of Cognition

Axiom has made a big move into Canada by purchasing the general counsel business of Cognition, one of the largest legal services providers in the Great White North. Cognition, an alternative legal services provider and law firm, represents corporate clients with law departments and small businesses that don’t have internal…

Jan 14, 2016 3:15 PM CST

Law firm mergers continue upward climb in 2015; Dentons accounts for eight of them

Ninety-one law firm mergers were reported in 2015, the highest amount in the nine years that Altman Weil has been keeping track of the combinations. The mergers are part of a strategy to acquire new business at a time of flat demand, Altman Weil principal Ward Bower said in a…

Jan 8, 2016 10:59 AM CST

Proposed merger between Dickstein and Bryan Cave is reportedly nixed

There will be no merger between Dickstein Shapiro and Bryan Cave, according to unnamed sources. The potential merger was called off last week, the National Law Journal (sub. req.) reports. Its story relies on a lawyer at one of the law firms and two sources outside of the firms with…

Jan 4, 2016 11:38 AM CST

Jury convicts lawyer accused of helping client impersonate wealthy dad to get funding for Maxim deal

A former BigLaw attorney has gone down, along with his ex-client, in a federal fraud case over a claimed scheme to trick lenders into providing millions to buy Maxim magazine. Harvey Newkirk, 39, who was counsel to Bryan Cave at the time, was acquitted on two counts by a Manhattan…

Dec 15, 2015 12:15 PM CST

Fox Rothschild to acquire 82-attorney Oppenheimer firm

As of Jan. 1, the 82 lawyers at Oppenheimer Wolff & Donnelly will be operating under a new banner. The Minneapolis-based firm is being acquired by 700-attorney Fox Rothschild, the Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal reports. “Establishing a strong presence in the upper Midwest is an important component in Fox’s overall…

Dec 14, 2015 4:30 PM CST

GateHouse to acquire Dolan legal and business publications

GateHouse Media LLC announced Friday that it has reached an agreement to purchase the business information division of Dolan LLC, a legal and business news publisher. It remains to be seen exactly how nearly two dozen Dolan publications including the Daily Record (Baltimore and New York), Lawyers Weekly in multiple…

Dec 14, 2015 4:20 PM CST

Law firm that once employed Gerald Ford will soon merge with larger competitor

A longtime Grand Rapids, Michigan, law firm that once had then-future president Gerald Ford on the payroll is set to merge with a larger legal shop. As of Jan. 1, the 16-attorney Law Weathers will become part of 150-attorney Varnum, MLive.com reports. The two law firms already have offices in…

Dec 3, 2015 5:00 PM CST

Dickstein Shapiro is said to be discussing a merger

Dickstein Shapiro is reportedly discussing a merger with Bryan Cave and other law firms. Relying on anonymous sources, Law.com and the Washington Post both report the Bryan Cave merger discussions. But Law.com says Dickstein is also discussing a merger with Locke Lord and with Perkins Coie. Three sources told Law.com…

Dec 3, 2015 11:50 AM CST

Inversions gain in popularity with help of Skadden lawyers

Lawyers from Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom were biking through Southern France in 2010 when they came up with an idea to help boost the sluggish market in mergers and acquisitions. The lawyers “dusted off the idea of inversions, which had been around for years but sparingly used,” the…

Nov 25, 2015 9:39 AM CST

These two BigLaw firms have reportedly ended their preliminary merger talks

Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman and Chadbourne & Parke have reportedly called off exploratory merger discussions. Two anonymous sources tell Bloomberg BNA’s BigLaw Business that the talks are over. One source said the discussions never got beyond the preliminary stage. Above the Law noted the report. David Dekker, the chair-elect of…

Nov 11, 2015 7:12 AM CST

Dentons to continue its megafirm rise by merging with firms in Australia and Singapore

Another day, another multi-firm combination for Dentons. On Monday, Dentons and Dacheng announced it has taken the first step towards combining with Australian firm Gadens and Singaporean firm Rodyk & Davidson. According to Elliott Portnoy, global chief executive officer of Dentons, leaders at each of the four firms have approved…

Nov 3, 2015 1:50 PM CST

Kilpatrick Townsend to merge with 21-lawyer Dallas firm

Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton is entering the Texas legal market through a merger with Dallas-based Crouch & Ramey, a 21-lawyer firm. The merger will take place on Nov. 2, according to a press release. With the addition of the Crouch & Ramey lawyers, Kilpatrick Townsend now has more than 170…

Oct 29, 2015 11:42 AM CDT

Expecting M&A uptick, Baker Botts adds 25 Houston lawyers, wants 25 more in 2016

A slump in the energy market hasn’t kept Baker Botts from expanding the attorney roster in its Houston headquarters. After adding 25 lawyers in 2015, the firm is looking to add 25 more in 2016, the Houston Business Journal reports. The law firm is expecting an uptick in mergers and…

Oct 20, 2015 11:55 AM CDT

Law firm mergers continue at record pace

Sixty-eight law firm mergers have been announced in the first nine months of 2015, the highest number since legal consulting firm Altman Weil began keeping track of the numbers in 2007. There were 20 law firm mergers announced in the most recent quarter, and all were acquisitions of law firms…

Oct 7, 2015 5:45 AM CDT