Bryan Cave to Acquire Powell Goldstein
Heller Ehrman and Thelen dissolved after big time mergers fell through. While our readers have been speculating on the next capitulation to the financial crisis, it seems that Powell Goldstein has narrowly avoided a full scale dissolution thanks to Bryan Cave. A tipster reports:
Powell Goldstein, which has been an prominent firm in Atlanta since 1909, will no longer exist next week. PoGo partners voted last week to approve an acquisition by Bryan Cave, and BC will announce the acquisition on Monday.
Bryan Cave did not return multiple calls requesting comment on the story. Meanwhile, a PoGo spokesperson said “I have nothing to report” when asked about the acquisition.
As we understand it, the union between Bryan Cave and PoGo is not a “merger” so much as it is a buy-out. Additional tipsters have reported that nobody from PoGo — not staff, not associates, not even partners — is safe. Equity partners could be let go early next week.
Putting together the rumors after the jump.
Rumors about PoGo’s demise have been swirling for some time. Over the summer we reported on layoffs at PoGo. Since then, there has been a steady stream of rumors about the firm.
Although we have not been able to confirm all of them with multiple sources, we’ve been told that PoGo no-offered 50% (or more) of their summer class. We also believe that there has been a slow leak of PoGo staff and associates that took place over the summer and early autumn.
Two sources had heard the rumor that PoGo was out of options. If some firm hadn’t stepped in, PoGo’s banks were likely to pull their credit line sometime next week.
I suppose we will have to wait till Monday to see the full details of this acquisition. But it looks like one of the oldest law firms in Atlanta won’t quite make it to its 100th birthday.
Update (3:30): PoGo Chairman James J. McAlpin, Jr. held a conference call to discuss our report. He’s assured associates that no layoffs will take place. Read additional coverage here.
(119) Comments
Comments
first
Firsttt
firsties
PoGo PoGone.
PoGo Go-ByeBye.
I'm really glad I turned down the offer from PoGo now to work for a litigation boutique. Everyone questioned why I would do that, but who is laughing now.... biotch!
Poopin/hat
One of the most prominent firms in the country gets bought out and this is all you morons can come up with?
Wow 5, you are really smart. S M R T.
One of the "most prominent firms" that no one besides you has ever heard of. ... Is this a real firm?
Didn't PoGo have some associate or whatever that was a porno actor at night, or something like that, a few years ago?
ha! a merger with bryan cave? lets see what happens now that two sinking ships collide
Anyone have any idea how many PoGo lawyers Brian Cave will keep?
ha! a merger with bryan cave? lets see what happens now that two sinking ships collide
12 - Zero point zero.
These credit line pulls are murder.
Who else is on thin ice?
PoGo a prominent firm? Not in the last decade
listen to the chatter next week. rumors are that alston is going to let some people go. not sure if just staff, but it does not look pretty in some practice areas. pogo was the low fruit of the tree. sooner or later, its going to hit the higher fruit like ab and ks, although they will probably do a better job at keeping it a secret.
Isn't Bryan Cave a tourist trap in Virginia?
I know they're big but the name makes it sound like some cheesy PI firm.
17 - i heard the atlanta office is VERY slow these days.
Why is Bryan Cave buying the firm if it's not profitable -why not just cherry pick the partners with books?
Good thing 5 didn't stick with PoGo. I'm sure all at PoGo are pretty jumpy these days.
It is a good match. Both firms have chosen a dark blue background for their logos and both have this weird penumbra motif!
Good luck to the PoGo folks.
19- you would be correct. i think at some time these firms have to realize that when they overexend themselves beyond their regional bounds, they are setting themselves up for failure. Slow, natural progession, with an embedded and deep client base, is the only way to go. look at the SF firms that went down the tank because they tried to make themselves look like large national firms. it only works in a booming economy, and if your firm financials are not sound, the fall is bad enough that your firm collapses. i dont think AB and KS are that bad off, but those expansions are hurting the bottom line. No region likes carpet bagger firms. northern firms come into atlanta, and they get segregated in polite ways as being not one of "us", i.e. not in the good ol boys club. same with the bay area and the northeast.
South to agrarian economy.
20 - I used to work at Bryan Cave and it's a pretty conservative place, so I doubt they're taking on a lot of risk in the deal terms. This is much better news than hearing about firms folding. Hopefully it works out - Bryan Cave didn't have offices where PoGo is, so maybe it's a smart move.
PoGo opened a Charlotte office with some CWT people last year, any idea if Bryan Cave will want to keep that outpost?
PoGo opened a Charlotte office with some CWT people last year, any idea if Bryan Cave will want to keep that outpost?
... 14: very funny. However, I doubt they acquired the Firm merely for the financial obligations and office space.
Good luck to the PoGo lawyers. I feel sorry for the '08 grads that had their start dates put off and now are likely out of work entirely. I know a couple of them that were headed to PoGo. Rough times.
Bryan Cave seems obsessed with the fact that some of their midwestern offices (St. Louis and K.C.) permit them to keep client costs down. That seems to be a recruiting selling point. I'm not sure how an outpost in Atlanta-- which comes with a pretty nasty financial situation-- furthers that goal.
this is 17 and 24: i hope for the best for all the pogo folks. i know a lot of them, and they are good people being led by people without any leadership skill or business sense.
the downfall of these firms remind me of the mythogolical story of icarus who flew too close to the sun. tragic.
The fact that this merger has sparked only 29 comments in nearly an hour speaks volumes to the lack of interest it is generating.
Guys at my high school used to acquire Powell Goldstein all the time. It was no big deal.
Atlanta to $35k!
First to say, MysTTTal.
26--PoGo has about 15 people in Dallas and 10 in Charlotte. Other than Atlanta, they don't offer Bryan Cave much presence in new markets. And Atlanta has been slow as hell. Hope it works out, but doesn't seem like the best idea.
33: i think the lack of comments is because those with any interest (probably the atlanta folks only) knew this was coming in some form or fashion for a long time. the naming of the acquiring firm is...ho hum.
what if you accepted a summer offer at POGO? what do you do?
Law firm names used to be so much more colorful.
How about adding back McPheeters & McRoberts to that sleek Bryan Cave?
The two firms have very similar logos. Maybe it was the swoosh that was the selling point.
34: I heard they got Antibiotic cream to clear that up, which is the real reason why it was no big deal.
Boring
This is what is happening at Locke Lord too.
40: did not graduate with any honors, ordinary undergraduate degree, no top schools, got a job with a larger law firm, good looking...yep, seems things are as usual in the world of law.
Atlanta to $1.90 plus grits.
46 = fat chick
Has Thelen dissolved? or are they holding a vote on whether or not to dissolve in the early december? Can someone clarify
Pogo and Brca to become "inextricably intertwined".
Don't underestimate grits. We really like grits down here, and they'll come in handy when we're reduced to a barter economy in the near future.
46 = person who likes eye candy. no complaints!!
One of the most prominent firms in the country gets bought out and this is all you morons can come up with?
__________________________________________
PoGo is one of the most prominent firms in the country? Where are you from--Council Bluffs?
I'm sure the people who are losing their jobs are interested in the story, but I imagine the lack of interest is that the firms have very few NY or DC associates and aren't that popular with students from top law schools.
53 - I don't think they'd have to be from that far out in the sticks, but even in Atlanta, PoGo hasn't been particularly prominent for a while already.
At a big ATL firm, it's not slow in litigation. KS and A&B will be fine - unless UPS, CocaCola, Nokia and HomeDepot go out of business. The mid-tiers are the only ones in trouble - MLA, Bondurant et al.
56 -- LOL at Bondurant being in trouble.
Yes, I meant 55.
-56
55: no doubt KS and AB will pull through, but not unscathed as people want others to think. litigation is picking up for everyone, except at sinking ships like pogo.
The vast majority of the "facts" in this story are wrong. You should wait for the real news story before jumping to conclusions or wild speculation.
59: I suspect you are right, some of this story sounds fishy, so what is the "real news story"?
I'm at K&S and slammed every day.
Back to billing.
K&S and A&B are not in any trouble. They are diversified enough where the slow (but not dead) corporate groups can be carried by lit and IP. A&Bs expansion is actually helping as it adds some groups in thriving industries.
I work at a "mid-tier" in Atlanta, and i can tell you that we are slammed in lit, and corporate/transactional, while slower, isn't dead and is not looking to lay anyone off.
and i'm with 56 when i LOL at bondurant having issues.
PG had a low PPP already, there were nonBig4 accounting firms who had partners who made more...
Unlike nearly every other piece of shit post on ATL, this is actual news. You can tellby the fact that the comments are all substantive and for most part only posted once. The trolls and moronic schtick posters like Law School posts. Attorneys like posts about the market, bonuses, layofs (of attorneys), firm mergers/dissolutions and sex. Although not necessarilly in that order.
65: Sentence Fragments.
62: no one said AB is not in any trouble like Pogo was in trouble. i think what they are saying is that AB will likely be laying off people in the next couple of weeks due to the slowdown. and, i am glad that you feel that positive about the expansion, because the numbers and reputation out here on the left coast say otherwise. but hey, maybe you folks in atlanta get a different message from on high.
55-K&S, A&B will be fine, but don't make it seem like they are getting by unscathed. Stealth layoffs have been taking place since early this year.
Lets just say I was a 2008 grad, who accepted with PoGo and had my start date pushed back to January 09. Should I, hypothetically of course, just bend over and accept my fate. Any chance in hell Bryan Cave would keep the incoming folks?
What's the word on PH in Atlanta?
At OCI, the Dewey and PoGo folks were chatting with inerviewees about their Charlotte offices expanding. The only firms now worth going to in Charlotte are the ones at a more sustainable $130k. Namely, RBH.
Also, doubt things are hunky-dory at K&S/A&B. A&B dropped it's summer program in some offices.
It's going to be really interesting to see what happens with A&B in Charlotte... that office is NOT diversified. It's just IP (which is humming along, though MVA poached some people from them a year ago or so) and finance work (not so humming).
71, that's a really interesting observation about pay in Charlotte. Most of the regional firms (sans MVA) are at $130,000 (places like Nelson Mullins and Parker Poe). I'm not so sure that all of them will be OK. Isn't/wasn't Parker Poe pretty exposed to Wachovia?
One more observation re. Charlotte- in most markets, having a client comprise more than 5% of your business is a bad thing. MVA has two clients which together comprise nearly 50% of their business.
10 - Here's but one story about the ex-PoGo ex-gay ex-marine ex-pornstar. Quadruple X. Top that shit.
http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1117789519850
Any more news about the stealth layoffs at Locke Lord?
Nelson Mullins no-offered a huge percentage of their class, and I know a few no-offered at Parker Poe. I think the best firms in Charlotte now are probably Robinson Bradshaw and McGuireWoods, which bought an established firm. Firms that ditched too much of the bread & butter regional work for the bank stuff are really regretting it now. And MVA has always tried to play the NYC firm in NC, but it's basically cancelled its summer program. I think a few offers were made on its first callback day, but attys there say that no offers were made after the second callback day.
69 - I wouldn't worry just yet. BC wants to grow the firm and will likely want to grow its "new" Atlanta office. I don't see them laying off attorneys. They'll still need incoming associates and summer associates in the Atlanta office.
Any word on Kilpatrick in Atlanta?
Any word on Kilpatrick in Atlanta?
77,78 -- Yes, the word is legs.
Any word on Kilpatrick in Atlanta?
80 -- Go spread the word.
Basis acquisition question here. When a firm purchases another firm, what generally happens to people hired on with the target in the interim. Before the deal is consumated, is it the acquirer or target running the hiring decisions (that is those made before the deal was formed)?
Legs? Expand, please.
-77,78,80 (Sorry about the repeats. New here.)
72. Your statement about MVA is incorrect. Check your facts.
84, Each of MVA's top 2 clients comprises about 20% of their business. The third-largest client is around 5-6%. They pride themselves on transparency and freely share this information with just about anyone.
-72
83
Do you work for Kilpatrick?
As will be announced, most of this story is false.
MVA = TTT
87 - Yup, pretty much everything below the headline.
A sincere question: What goes on in the transaction when one firm acquires another? How much does the acquiring firm pay and to whom?
What is PoGo going to do about their incoming summer class?
67 - your comments re: A&B, are they limited to atlanta or are you also including charlotte? I agree with your post, but just curious as to where you're gathering your info from?
67 - your comments re: A&B, are they limited to atlanta or are you also including charlotte? I agree with your post, but just curious as to where you're gathering your info from?
The incoming summer class of PG should be receiving calls in the next week or so. In short, they will only be keeping a select few -- those who worked hard during the summer. If you were lazy but still managed to get an offer, you should now be worried. Survival of the fittest!
Where my battered women at?
What will happen to the summer associate program for 2009?
What will happen to the summer associate program for 2009?
95- That's what I'm talkin' about. Where dey at? Where dey at?
55-Bondurant in trouble? You iz dummmmm. You iz reel dummmm.
What will happen to the summer associate program for 2009?
What will happen to the summer associate program for 2009?
What will happen to the summer associate program for 2009?
What will happen to the summer associate program for 2009?
What will happen to the summer associate program for 2009?
What will happen to the summer associate program for 2009?
What will happen to the summer associate program for 2009?
What will happen to the summer associate program for 2009?
What about the 2009 Summer Associate Program?
Elie--
Please block 99-107.
94: By incoming summer associate class, are you referencing the 2008 Summer Class that would start as first-years in Fall 2009?
100-200
Be patient....or Turn down your offer!!!
Not first years, the new summer class (people that just accepted PoGo offers).
109- I meant Fall 09.
The people who just accepted PoGo summer offers are out of luck. Those who summered with the firm in 2008 (i.e. Fall 2009 associates) will find out their fate over the next couple of weeks. Most likely, 70% of you will be let go.
Similar happenings at Locke Lord in Dallas and Houston.
94 and 113 - You have no idea what you're talking about. I agree with 76 - I think they'll honor the offers made.
Just because it is so wrong, it must be said again that #55 is an idiot.
Bondurant is doing great and comparing it to MLA is stupid anyway. Two completely different types of firms.
What is the general view on BC? Will they make it?
Bryan Cave will regret this.
69 (and any other PoGo incoming first years):
Don't worry yourselves into a state, call up and Ask.
Call the people you interviewed with, ask them what your true status is; call the firm hiring coordinator, ask the same questions.
If you get a positive response, ask for a reaffirmation letter. If there is any pissiness about that, tell them that you want to come, don't want to go out looking for other positions, but you just need to be sure.
As has been said over and over on this site (one of its few socially redeeming features), Look Out For Yourself. Because almost no one else will. Trust a firm? -- only as far as you can see them.