Midsize Firm

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

Unsealed suit targets law firm for alleged lax cybersecurity

A class-action complaint unsealed on Friday claims a Chicago law firm put client information at risk because of lax cybersecurity. The suit claims Johnson & Bell had security holes in its email, time-entry software and virtual private network, the Am Law Daily (sub. req.) reports. The suit does not allege…

Dec 12, 2016 7:00 AM 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

Wisconsin law firm will close after most of its remaining lawyers join another firm

Milwaukee law firm Weiss Berzowski has operated for more than 50 years, but it will no longer exist on Wednesday when most of its remaining lawyers join von Briesen & Roper. Fourteen lawyers are making the move to the new firm, report the Milwaukee Business Journal, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel…

Nov 30, 2016 8:30 AM CST

Think higher billing rates are the key to higher law firm revenue? Think again, report says

Law firms that raised billing rates at a slower pace in recent years tended to have higher demand from clients and higher revenue growth, according to a new study. The Peer Monitor report by Thomson Reuters came to that conclusion by looking at data for the nation’s top 100 law…

Oct 20, 2016 7:00 AM CDT

Honigman experiences high turnover rate as it embarks on expansion plan

Michigan-based Honigman Miller Schwartz and Cohn has seen an exodus of lawyers over the last couple of years as the firm embarks on an ambitious expansion strategy. On Tuesday, Crain’s Detroit Business reported that 66 attorneys have left the 270-lawyer firm since the beginning of 2015. Crain’s found, of those…

Oct 12, 2016 2:15 PM CDT

Maynard Cooper & Gale opens New York office

Alabama-based firm Maynard Cooper & Gale has opened a new office in the Big Apple. On Monday, the firm announced the hiring of three veteran intellectual property lawyers to help establish the firm’s new office in New York City. Ex-Goodwin Procter partners Kevin Culligan and John Hanish have joined as…

Oct 5, 2016 1:45 PM CDT

Failed firm’s leaders violated law by not giving proper notice before layoffs, federal judge says

Executives from a failed Florida-based law firm violated federal law when they failed to inform their employees that the firm was about to go under, a federal judge ruled. On Friday, the Orlando Sentinel reported that U.S. District Judge Beth Bloom of the Southern District of Florida ruled that the…

Oct 3, 2016 3:15 PM CDT

Law firms turn to nonlawyer experts to enhance practice and provide value

Some firms are finding profits, and success, in relying on non-lawyer experts from other industries as a means of providing better services to their clients. In a Tuesday story in the Legal Intelligencer, several firms have started utilizing “content experts” that have actual, real-world experience in the areas of the…

Sep 29, 2016 10:00 AM CDT

Martindale-Hubbell, Nolo launch legal marketing network

Internet Brands, the company that owns Martindale-Hubbell, Nolo and Ngage Live Chat, unveiled a new legal marketing network that integrates features from all three of those products. On Wednesday, Internet Brands launched Martindale-Nolo Legal Marketing Network. According to a press release, the network will utilize content from Nolo.com to serve…

Sep 7, 2016 9:50 AM CDT

This shrinking law firm tops ‘A-List’; is it a ‘one-horse firm’?

Irell & Manella had just 112 practicing lawyers as of mid-July, down from a high of 221 lawyers in 2003. Its revenue dropped 19 percent last year and its profits per partner—at a more than respectable $3.2 million—nonetheless dropped 12 percent. But the firm has been named No. 1 on…

Aug 4, 2016 7:00 AM CDT

Law firm market ‘stumbled’ in second quarter; rising headcount is partly to blame

The legal market was “blindsided” in the second quarter by slumping demand for legal services, along with rising expenses and falling productivity, according to a report by Thomson Reuters Peer Monitor. Demand for legal services, as measured by billable hours, dropped by 0.9 percent in the second quarter of 2016,…

Aug 2, 2016 9:23 AM CDT

These law firms are named the best for women

The percentage of firms with three or more women as top rainmakers has doubled in two years in the 50 law firms named the best for women. Working Mother and Flex-Time Lawyers announced this year’s top 50 law firms for women on Tuesday. Twenty-two percent of the law firms reported…

Jul 27, 2016 7:00 AM CDT

Top law firms boost hourly rates for equity partners by 3.9%, leaving mid-tier firms $400 behind

The most profitable law firms have pulled far ahead of second-hundred firms in their hourly billing rates, according to a study of rate increases between 2014 and 2015. The most profitable firms raised average billing rates for equity partners by 3.9 percent, with an average billing rate of $1,085, according…

Jun 8, 2016 10:45 AM CDT

Eleanor Alter leads 6-attorney Kasowitz team to new matrimonial boutique

Sought-after matrimonial lawyer Eleanor Alter has exited Kasowitz Benson Torres & Friedman, along with five other lawyers, to form a new family practice boutique. She said her decision to establish Alter Wolff & Foley last week after 20 years at Kasowitz Benson had “nothing to do with money” and cited…

Jun 3, 2016 12:25 PM CDT