© 2014 The Texas Lawbook.
By Mark Curriden – (September 10) – Locke Lord, a 630-lawyer firm based in Texas, announced Wednesday that it has signed a letter of intent to merge with another large law firm based in Boston.
Leaders at Locke Lord and Edwards Wildman Palmer, a 450-lawyer operation, started discussing a possible combination about two months ago. They hope the merger will be completed by the end of the first quarter of 2015.
The new law firm, if the deal goes through, would be called Locke Lord Edwards and would immediately become the largest law firm based in Texas and one of the 50 largest in the U.S.
The new law firm would have 23 offices globally, employ more than 1,000 lawyers and tout gross revenues of about $675 million.
“It is no secret that we’ve been looking for the next merger opportunity,” Locke Lord Chairwoman Jerry Clements said in an interview with The Texas Lawbook. “Both firms have been through a number of successful combinations, but we think this one opens the door for something truly transformational.”
Clements said the merger would allow the two law firms to combine and grow offices in New York, Washington, D.C., Chicago, Los Angeles and Hong Kong.
“This is a very smart way to grow instead of hiring one or two lawyers at a time for these offices, which can be a very expensive way to grow,” she said.
Clements said the two firms hope to have a partnership vote on the proposed merger before the end of the year. During the next few months, firm leaders plan to identify any client conflicts.
“We have not identified any show-stoppers,” she said, when asked if there are any significant obstacles facing the merger. “We need to get our lawyers to meet one another. We have a good track record of integrating two law firms.”
Locke Lord is the result of a series of mergers that started two decades ago when Dallas-based Locke Purnell and Liddell Sapp of Houston merged in 1999. Eight years later, Locke Liddell combined with Chicago firm Lord Bissell. Last October, Locke Lord was in merger discussions with Washington, D.C.-based Patton Boggs, but Patton Boggs eventually merged with Squire Sanders.
Clements said partners at Locke Lord and Edwards Wildman have known each other for years. She said that Locke Lord is “always looking for new markets” and that the Boston market is strategically key for the firm because of its strengths in private equity, intellectual property and life sciences.
While the firms’ joint press release calls the deal a “combination” and never uses the term “merger,” Clements said it is not a Swiss Verein, a business structure that allows two law firms to work together but operate their finances separately.
“This is a straight up merger,” Clements said. “We will be one law firm.”
William Cobb, a Houston law firm consultant, said Locke Lord and Edwards Wildman appear to be a good business fit.
“It is obvious that Locke Lord has been out there looking to expand its base,” Cobb said. “The merger seems to make sense because it gives the firm access to the key intellectual property and venture capital markets – Boston, Houston, Austin and San Francisco.”
Cobb said firm leaders need to make sure that their respective firm cultures are compatible.
“The culture of many Texas law firms is very different or unique from those in other parts of the country,” Cobb said. “Even if the financials all appear to work well, if the cultures don’t fit, there will be problems.”
© 2014 The Texas Lawbook. Content of The Texas Lawbook is controlled and protected by specific licensing agreements with our subscribers and under federal copyright laws. Any distribution of this content without the consent of The Texas Lawbook is prohibited.
If you see any inaccuracy in any article in The Texas Lawbook, please contact us. Our goal is content that is 100% true and accurate. Thank you.