U.S. Legal Industry Experiencing Record Year for Mergers
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The landscape of the legal industry is seeing some pronounced changes, according to a recent analysis by Newton Square, Pa.-based Altman Weil Inc.
During the second quarter of 2013, 18 law-firm mergers and/or acquisitions were announced in the U.S., according to the latest Altman Weil MergerLine — which tracks law-firm combinations as they are announced by media outlets and press releases.
Over the first six months of the year, there have been a total of 39 mergers.
Should the pace of mergers continue, 2013 could prove a record-year for the trend.
“The largest annual total for U.S. law firm mergers was 70 in 2008,” says Ward Bower, a principal of Altman Weil. “If the current pace continues, it looks like 2013 will surpass that record.”
Among the deals highlighted in Altman Weil’s second-quarter report was the May 2013 merger of San Antonio-based Bayern Aycock & Bayern and Langley & Banack Inc.
With the deal, Langley & Banack now has just over 60 attorneys.
The largest deal announced in the second quarter also involved a Texas firm, according to the MergerLine. In June, Husch Blackwell, a 543-lawyer firm based in St. Louis, and Austin-based Brown McCarroll, a 65-lawyer firm, merged their practices.
Another Texas deal making the list was the merger of Amarillo-based firms Sprouse Shrader Smith and Irwin Merritt Hogue Price & Carthel.
Read original articleTags: Altman Weil, Husch Blackwell, legal industry
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