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Law firm mergers slow as 'Dewey effect' kicks in
The number of US law firm mergers and acquisitions announced in the second quarter of this year dipped below the average deal flow for the last two years, with experts citing the demise of New York's Dewey & LeBoeuf as a key cause for the decline.
Avenue of the Americas: New York -- home to the Dewey Effect
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According to Altman Weil MergerLine – a management consultancy service that monitors law firm activity – there were 11 mergers in the second quarter of 2012, which is down on the average of 15 per quarter between October 2010 and March 2012.
Lawyers on the market
Altman Weil principle Ward Bower commented: ‘The decline in law firm mergers and acquisitions in the second quarter can be attributed to what we’re calling the Dewey effect. The demise of Dewey & LeBoeuf this spring put over a thousand lawyers and hundreds of millions of dollars of business into play, shifting the short-term focus of many law firms to those opportunities.’
Of the 11 mergers completed, only one involved a law firm with more than 10 lawyers on its books.
Two large law firms made acquisitions in the second quarter of 2012. Pittsburgh-based Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney, a 415-lawyer firm, acquired seven-lawyer Pittsburgh litigation boutique, Manion McDonough & Lucas. Frost Brown Todd, a 440-lawyer firm based in Cincinnati, acquired MGLAW.
