Biglaw, Lateral Moves, Law Firm Mergers, Partner Issues, Partner Profits

Law Firm Merger Mania: Bingham McCutchen And Morgan Lewis Reach A Deal

What would the post-combination entity look like?

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September is shaping up to be a busy month for law firm merger news. On the heels of the Locke Lord / Edwards Wildman deal, we’re getting word that Bingham McCutchen and Morgan Lewis have reached an agreement to merge.

The news doesn’t come as a shock. Rumors of a Bingham/Morgan combination have been circulating for months. There was talk that such a deal could trigger some partner departures, and those departures have already come to pass (presumably removing from the picture some potential objectors to a merger).

Let’s have a look at what a Morgan Bingham — or Bingham Morgan, or maybe just a bigger Morgan Lewis, if no name change takes place — might look like….

The news of an agreement was broken this weekend by Casey Sullivan of Reuters:

Leaders of two of the United States’ largest law firms, Boston-based Bingham McCutchen and Philadelphia’s Morgan Lewis & Bockius, have agreed to merge, according to three people familiar with the matter.

The combination would create one of the top five largest law firms in the world, with more than 2,000 lawyers and $2 billion in revenue, according to a Reuters analysis of financial figures in the American Lawyer, a trade publication.

Bingham partners received a voicemail on Friday from the firm’s managing partner, Steven Browne, saying an agreement to merge had been signed and that they would be briefed on the details of the combination in the coming week, according to the three sources.

This is very good news for Bingham. As we’ve mentioned before, the firm has been going through some tough times, in terms of disappointing financial results and partner defections. When Steven Browne replaced Jay Zimmerman as Bingham’s leader, many hoped that Browne would find a way to turn around or at least stabilize the firm. With this deal, it looks like “mission accomplished” for Browne.

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Of course, the merger isn’t a done deal just yet. The partnerships still need to vote on the transaction. The partners of 750-lawyer Bingham are probably more enthusiastic about combining than the partners of 1,200-lawyer Morgan Lewis, the larger and stronger of the two firms. But the lure of becoming one of the five biggest firms in the world is hard to resist.

Bingham McCutchen and Morgan Lewis haven’t commented (yet), but perhaps we’ll hear more from them in the coming week. We’ll keep you posted. If you have information to share about either firm, you know where to reach us.

UPDATE (9/22/2014, 12:00 p.m.): Additional details appear in this American Lawyer piece by Brian Baxter, Bingham, Morgan Lewis Strike Tentative Deal to Merge.

Law firms Bingham, Morgan Lewis, agree to merge – sources [Reuters]

Earlier: Could Bingham Merger Talks Trigger More Partner Departures?
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