According to Hildebrandt, leading consultants to the legal industry, law firm merger activity declined somewhat during the second quarter of 2009, with a total of nine completed law firm mergers and acquisitions involving US law firms. This compares with 14 completed US mergers in the second quarter of 2008, as well as 14 in the second quarter of 2007. Because the first quarter was a very active period, merger activity for the first six months of 2009, with 42 completed mergers, remains ahead of last year. One merger has been announced and will be completed in the third quarter.
Lisa Smith, head of Hildebrandt's Law Firm Strategy and Merger Practice, said “While interest in mergers remains high, the slower activity in the second quarter reflects overall caution on the part of firms, as well as a focus on the abundance of lateral partner opportunities.”
The largest US merger of the second quarter of 2009 was the merger between McGuireWoods and UK firm Grundberg Mocatta Rakison; this was also the only cross-border merger involving a US law firm. The second largest merger was between Chicago firms Schuyler Roche and Crisham & Kubes.
The average size of the smaller firm in each combination was 14, in line with the average of 14 in the second quarter of 2008. However, seven of the nine completed mergers this past quarter involved firms with between five and ten lawyers.
Globally, there were 18 mergers involving law firms outside the US during the second quarter of 2009. Three of these were cross-border mergers, involving firms in Belgium, Italy, and the UK. The most active market was the UK, with nine domestic mergers in addition to one cross-border combination. There were also two domestic mergers in Italy.
In addition to tracking mergers and acquisitions among law firms, Hildebrandt tracks office openings around the globe. In the second quarter of 2009, we tracked 42 office openings, 70% of which did not involve a combination with another firm. Twenty-five office openings were in the US. Europe, the Middle East, and Asia continue to be active markets, with two openings apiece in London, the UAE, and Saudi Arabia and one each in Beijing, Hong Kong, Sydney, and Taiwan. In the US, California continues to be a key destination, with five openings, followed by Florida with three; Kentucky, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin had two openings each.
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PLEASE NOTE: MERGERWATCH collects data from published reports, press releases and direct reports from law firms. We include all mergers where the acquired firm has five or more lawyers. Upon routine verification of the data, some historical numbers have been updated since previously issued reports, and the number of mergers contained herein may change as additional mergers are announced.
