Biglaw

Partners, Associates, Staff Flee Biglaw Firm After Merger Efforts Crumble

And the firm may be giving up an office as well.

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Less than two weeks ago, Stroock’s merger talks with Nixon Peabody fell apart, and since that time, a steady stream of lawyers and legal professionals have headed for the exits.

Stroock — which had apparently been in merger talks with several firms — has now lost two partners and more than 20 litigation attorneys and staff to Steptoe & Johnson, a firm that was once considered a potential merger partner.

But attorneys aren’t the only thing Stroock stands to lose to Steptoe. The American Lawyer has the details:

Sources with knowledge of both firms also said Steptoe … is in talks to take over the New York-based law firm’s Los Angeles office lease, in a scenario in which Stroock would shed its sole West Coast outpost. …

The more than 20 professionals leaving for Steptoe include Michele Jacobson, chair of the firm’s general litigation practice and co-chair of its reinsurance practice group, and Julia Strickland, managing partner of the firm’s Los Angeles office and head of the firm’s national financial services litigation, regulation and enforcement group.

Sources claim that the final number of lawyers and legal professionals leaving Stroock for Steptoe from the firm’s insurance and consumer finance litigation practices could reach up to 30 in total. But how big of a loss will this really represent for the firm?

Here are some additional insights from Am Law:

One source familiar with Stroock said Jacobson and Strickland were in groups that were “self-contained and not among the more profitable for the firm,” and their departures “will not have a significant impact,” The American Lawyer previously reported.

“Stroock’s core business is intact,” the source said.

Sources familiar with the moves also said Strickland and colleagues’ imminent exits, along with Stroock’s Los Angeles office, could be beneficial as it would allow the firm to shed personnel and overhead costs associated with that office.

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Best of luck to Stroock as it continues to deal with the fallout of its failed merger efforts.

Stroock’s Losses To Steptoe Amount To More Than 20 Lawyers And Staff [American Lawyer]

Earlier: Biglaw Merger Effort Crumbles

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 and Threads or connect with her on LinkedIn.

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