South is 2008's Merger and Expansion Capital

01/16/09

The National Law Journal said that mergers increased in 2008 and is likely because of poor economic conditions. Declining profits forced some firms to expand into more stable markets, while other smaller firms needed to merge with bigger firms in order to weather the tumultuous financial landscape.

Clay said, “The incursion of major national firms into key secondary markets like Charlotte, N.C., and Nashville may in turn be driving small and mid-sized southern firms to combine defensively in order to stay competitive.”

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The nation's two largest mergers occurred in the South as well, with K&L Gates acquiring Kennedy Covington Lobdell & Hickman, a 175-attorney firm based in Charlotte, and Richmond, Va.,-based McGuireWoods' merger with Helms Mulliss & Wicker, a 145-attorney firm based in Charlotte.

The article references other southern mergers, including Atlanta-based Powell Goldstein and Bryan Cave, and the fusion of Birmingham, AL, firm Bradley Arant Rose & White with Nashville's Boult, Cummings, Connors & Berry. The MergerLine report looked at all law firm merger and acquisition announcements in 2008.

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"This may be the largest number of law firm combinations ever in a single year in the U.S.," Clay said. "Even as the economy deteriorated, most mergers went forward as law firms pursued expansion plans. Where deals fell apart, firms may have let short-term fears overcome long-term strategies."

Another merger study released by Hildebrandt International earlier this year shows other areas of the nation experienced heightened merger movement as well. Noteworthy unifications occurred in the Midwest, including the merger of Kansas City firms Polsinelli Shalton Flanigan Suelthaus and Shugart Thomson & Kilroy, and the combination of Cincinnati-based Taft, Stettinius and Hollister with Indianapolis-based Sommer Barnard.

The MergerLine report found dramatically fewer mergers occurred in Western firms with the only major deal involving Atlanta-based Alston & Bird's acquisition of 80-attorney Los Angeles firm Weston Benshoof Rochefort Rubalcava & MacCuish.

The MergerLine report says nine law firm mergers have already been announced since the first of 2009, indicating a strong merger market this year.