Law Firm Merger Mania: Locke Liddell + Lord Bissell

The latest Biglaw combination brings together more “L”s than you can shake a stick at. From the Texas Lawyer:

Locke Liddell & Sapp, based in Houston and Dallas, and Chicago-based Lord, Bissell & Brook have agreed to merge, and will form a 700-lawyer firm named Locke Lord Bissell & Liddell.

Hmm, that’s a mouthful — the marketing people might want to rethink things. The alliteration and internal rhyme make the firm name far too “busy.”
Correction: Based on the comments, it appears that we’re wrong about the internal rhyme. But we still think the new firm name is unwieldy.
Some reactions to more substantive aspects of the deal, after the jump.


Some thoughts from a Texas tipster:

“[I]t’s interesting that the firm may be headquartered in Austin, which is not exactly the center of the legal world in Texas. (Rain Harrell, where Harriet Miers started, was based in Dallas, before it merged with Locke Purnell way back when, and before that entity merged with Locke Liddell & Sapp). I was also surprised at [Locke Liddell’s] profits per partner, which seem to lag significantly behind BIGTEX firms like Vinson & Elkins and Baker Botts.”

“Don’t know what feeds this firm’s urge to merge. I’ll let you know if I hear more.”

From a poster on Greedy Chicago:

“Locke Liddell & Sapp LLP met with its associates (and partners, for that matter) yesterday and announced the ‘merger’ with Lord Bissell and Brook[s] LLP. I’m surprised there hasn’t been more chatter here or on the GTX board.”

“This is juicy stuff — Locke’s first years make more in their second tier market than Lord’s do in the Chicago market. I knew there was something up when Lord didn’t move on salaries earlier this year.”

Sponsored

Our take: Lord Bissell benefits the most from this deal. They’re getting their hands on legal celebrity Harriet Miers!!!
Locke Liddell to Merge With Lord, Bissell [Texas Lawyer]
2006 Profits Per Partner [Texas Lawyer]
Earlier: Musical Chairs: Welcome Back, Harriet

Sponsored