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Last year was another busy year for law firm mergers
ANNIE YAMSON
Special to the Legal News
Published: January 19, 2017
A new report from legal consulting firm Altman Weil shows that 2016 was a strong market for law firm mergers for the fourth year in a row.
There were 85 law firm combinations announced in the United States in 2016 according to the firm's market research arm, MergerLine.
"This is the fourth consecutive year that the total has hit 80 or more since 2013 when U.S. law firm merger and acquisition activity dramatically accelerated coming out of the recession," according to a statement from the firm.
In Ohio, merger and acquisition activity tended to stay close to home in 2016, with a couple exceptions.
Back in March, two Cleveland firms, Schneider Smeltz Ranney & LaFond and Speith Bell McCurdy & Newell, merged to form a modest 28-lawyer firm.
Toward the end of the year, Akron-based Brouse McDowell merged with Canfield-based Nadler Nadler & Burdman.
And, effective at start of 2017 was the tie-up of Dayton's Faruki Ireland & Cox with Cincinnati firm BDG Law, both law firms with fewer than 20 lawyers.
The smaller acquisitions were part of a host of tiny deals last year.
Altman Weil's report indicates that 84 percent of all law firm combinations announced last year were acquisitions of small law firms with 20 or fewer lawyers, and 52 percent were same-state combinations.
Two Ohio-based firms were part of larger deals when they were acquired by law firms based out of Los Angeles.
Early in 2016, 1,023-lawyer Lewis Brisbois acquired Cleveland-based, 14-lawyer firm Mannion & Gray.
As of the beginning of this year, the seven lawyers of Cincinnati's Denlinger Rosenthal & Greenberg are now part of Los Angeles firm Jackson Lewis, which has 805 attorneys under its umbrella.
The deals were demonstrative of California being the top in-bound destination for law firm acquirers in 2016.
Altman Weil principal Tom Clay said that, in a post-recession reality, the most effective way to add new business in the legal market is to acquire another law firm.
"But as the supply of prime targets inevitably shrinks," said Clay, "we expect the competition to make high-quality deals will intensify in 2017."
The 85 law firm mergers and acquisitions announced last year included a record number of international deals, the biggest of which was announced in mid-December with United Kingdom-based Eversheds and Atlanta-based Sutherland Asbill & Brennan voting to join forces as a new, global law firm.
The 2,300-lawyer merger was one of 11 cross-border combinations announced last year.
The largest international acquisition by a U.S. law firm in 2016 was Los Angeles-based Littler's acquisition of 170-lawyer French firm, Fromont Briens.
Other international acquisitions by U.S. firms included law firms in Canada, Costa Rica, London, Finland and Sweden.
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