January 4, 2012 4:35 PM
Report: Law Firm Merger Boom to Continue in 2012
Posted by Brian Baxter
A new study by law firm consultancy The Hildebrandt Institute finds that law firm merger activity increased 65 percent between 2010 and 2011, and predicts more tie-ups to come in 2012.
The largest merger to be completed by U.S.–based firms last year, according to Hildebrandt, was Kilpatrick Stockton joining forces with Townsend and Townsend and Crew a year ago; the tie-up that unitedEdwards Angell Palmer & Dodge’s and Wildman, Harrold, Allen & Dixon ran a close second. (Hildebrandt's tally counts mergers that have been completed in 2011 and excludes those that have only been announced.)
Hildebrandt notes that the number of mergers finalized in 2011's fourth quarter rose to 14—a 55 percent increase over the nine that took effect in the third quarter. All told, according to Hildebrandt, there were 45 mergers involving U.S. firms last year, a 65 percent jump over the 27 completed in 2010.
Hildebrandt reports that the uptick in tie-ups—many of which were regional in scope, rather than national or international—suggests "merger activity appears to be heading back towards prerecessionary levels" that averaged about 55 mergers a year.
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