One merger is an accident. Two mergers … well, that could be a trend.
The merger of Hogan & Hartson and Lovells is in the books. The new firm is up and running, and it’s already saying goodbye to people. The Blog of the Legal Times reports that Hogan Lovells had some departures over the weekend:
A six-lawyer insurance litigation group left Hogan to launch a D.C. office for Hartford, Conn.-based Shipman & Goodwin. James Ruggeri, who leads the group, said that the move was made because of conflicts created by the merger for his group’s chief client, The Hartford Financial Services Group Inc. Ruggeri serves as The Hartford’s national counsel for complex insurance coverage matters. He had been at Hogan since 1991.
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Hogan Lovells has gotten a lot of attention in part because it is the highest-profile law firm merger to take place after the recession fully took hold.
But over the weekend, a tipster reported that there might be another notable merger on the horizon. Our source tells us that Townsend and Townsend and Crew and Kilpatrick Stockton are in talks…
Our tipster reports:
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The partners at Townsend and Townsend and Crew have voted to move forward to merge with Kilpatrick and Stockton. My understanding [is] that this will be announced in the next 6 to 8 weeks.
We reached out to the two firms. The first rule about fight club law firm mergers is that you do not talk about law firm mergers. Here’s the statement from Kilpatrick Stockton:
Thank you for your inquiry, but the firm has a policy of not commenting on speculation and rumor.
Fair enough. A spokesperson from Townsend had a similar statement:
There are always rumors of firms merging, so as a rule, we don’t address those. We’ve been a strong and independent firm for a long time and remain so today.
Apropos of nothing, it’s been quite a long time since the heyday of “rumors of firms merging,” so forgive us if we’re a bit excited.
But perhaps that merger rumor mill is about to heat up after a long break?
Is that a good sign for the legal economy?
Seven D.C. Lawyers Leave Over Weekend of Hogan Lovells Launch [BLT: Blog of the Legal Times]