Law Firm Merger Mania: Alston & Bird Swoops In on Weston Benshoof

onJuly 30, 2008 at 11:29 AM

Just to close the loop on this prior report, the talks between Alston & Bird and Los Angeles-based Weston Benshoof have borne fruit. Alston’s acquisition of Weston is official. From a firm-wide email just issued by A&B managing partner Richard Hays:

This morning, the partners voted overwhelmingly to expand the firm into California with the opening of two new offices. The Los Angeles-based Weston Benshoof firm and their 83 attorneys will become a part of Alston & Bird and, additionally, we will be opening an office in Silicon Valley with a group of eleven (11) intellectual property lawyers formerly with Akin Gump.

The complete memo appears after the jump. The official press release from Alston & Bird appears here (PDF).
Elsewhere on the A&B front, we’ve been hearing all sorts of rumors about goings-on over there — some of them in comments, and some by email. There may be nothing to them; but if there’s anything to report, you know where to reach us. Thanks.

Sponsored

Navigating Financial Success by Avoiding Common Pitfalls and Maximizing Firm Performance

In this CLE-eligible webinar, we’ll explore the most common accounting pitfalls and how to avoid them for your firm.

From Pilot and Above The Law

ALSTON & BIRD — MEMORANDUM — ACQUISITION OF WESTON BENSHOOF
I am pleased to share some very exciting news about the firm. This morning, the partners voted overwhelmingly to expand the firm into California with the opening of two new offices. The Los Angeles-based Weston Benshoof firm and their 83 attorneys will become a part of Alston & Bird and, additionally, we will be opening an office in Silicon Valley with a group of eleven (11) intellectual property lawyers formerly with Akin Gump. I am also pleased to report that our partner, Randall Allen, will be relocating to the Bay Area to lead the effort.
Weston Benshoof is a highly regarded firm with special expertise in litigation and energy and was ranked by Chambers USA in 2008 as one of the best environmental practices in all of California. The 2008 edition of Benchmark: Litigation, a guide to America’s leading litigation firms and attorneys, ranked Weston Benshoof as one of the leading litigation firms in California, also making note of the firm’s acclaimed environmental litigation abilities. The lawyers joining us in Silicon Valley have extensive experience in IP litigation and represent international clients involved in a variety of technology-related businesses.
Our office in Palo Alto will open this Friday, August 1, and the combination with Weston Benshoof will occur September 1. This schedule is aggressive, but we are up to the challenge and much has already been accomplished.
For some time, the firm has searched for an appropriate California base to serve our growing number of West Coast clients. An extraordinary number of our attorneys have spent a great deal of time and energy telling the A&B story, performing due diligence, negotiating and now in making the integration happen. The teamwork displayed throughout the process has been strong and apparent and ultimately played a big role in moving both groups to Alston & Bird.
These are exciting times, and I am confident that you will be hearing more about this from many sources. But I wanted to share the quick news with you personally. The contribution each of you makes daily sustains what is great about the firm, and I look forward to joining with you to welcome these new members of the Alston & Bird family.
Richard Hays
Managing Partner
Earlier: Law Firm Merger Mania: More Mini-Mergers