Biglaw

Biglaw Firms Complete Big-Money Merger During Pandemic

This is something worth celebrating. Congratulations!

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It’s been a very long time coming, but Philadelphia-based Pepper Hamilton and Atlanta-based Troutman Sanders have finally completed their merger to create Troutman Pepper Hamilton Sanders, a 1,100-lawyer firm with combined legacy revenue of $900 million in 2019, making it one of the 50 highest-grossing firms in the country.

The merger was publicly announced in November 2019 and the firms were originally supposed to combine on April 1, 2020, but the pandemic put a damper on their plans. “While we are well-positioned to execute the combination on April 1, we believe the decision to postpone is in the best interest of our attorneys, staff, and clients,” the firms noted in a March announcement, postponing the merger to July 1 due to the “unprecedented” challenges associated with the coronavirus crisis. In the meantime, both firms enacted austerity measures like pay cuts to control costs while COVID-19 wreaked economic havoc across the country.

Now that Troutman Pepper is finally here, with 26 offices spread across the country, CEO and chair Stephen Lewis, who formerly served as Troutman’s managing partner, is ready to get this party started. From the American Lawyer:

“There is a lot of excitement across the combined firm about making this effective now,” Lewis said.

For now, the new firm’s lawyers and staff will celebrate via video at a firmwide event Wednesday afternoon. Troutman Pepper has scheduled its first partner meeting for July 16, also via video. Lewis said the firm hopes to host an in-person partner meeting in the new year, but “it depends on COVID-19 and when the world opens back up.”

And what about those pay cuts? Lewis seems optimistic everyone’s salaries will be restored sometime in the future. “I’d love to do it sooner rather than later,” he said.

Congratulations to everyone at Troutman Pepper on acheiving the seemingly impossible by completing a merger during a pandemic.

Troutman Pepper Merger Goes Live, Even as Pandemic Keeps New Colleagues Apart [American Lawyer]

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Staci ZaretskyStaci Zaretsky is a senior editor at Above the Law, where she’s worked since 2011. She’d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on Twitter or connect with her on LinkedIn.

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