JD Journal » Edwards Angell Palmer & Dodge

Law Firm Merger Numbers in 2011 to Continue in 2012

jim — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 21:00:16 +0000

The law firm consultancy The Hildebrandt Institute, has found that mergers amongst law firms increased by 65 percent from 2010 to 2011, and the report expects that more mergers will occur in 2012.

Kilpatrick Stockton joining with Townsend and Townsend and Crew was the largest merger in the United States last year, according to the Hildebrandt report. The second largest merger in the United States was the one between Edwards Angell Palmer & Dodge’s and Wildman, Harrold & Dixon. The data compiled by Hildebrandt includes only mergers that have been completed in 2011, not ones that have been announced but not officially completed.

The report also notes that there were 14 mergers completed in the fourth quarter of 2011, a 55 percent increase over the nine mergers that occurred in the third quarter. According to the report, there were 45 mergers that involved United States law firms in 2011, a 65 percent increase from the 27 that occurred in 2010.

The report from Hildebrandt also says that mergers in the country were regional, not national or international, showing that activity could be increasing to numbers seen before the recession. Those numbers included yearly merger averages of about 55 per year.

The most active merger areas of the country, as noted by the report, include Los Angeles (six law firm mergers), Texas (five, with four coming in Houston), Illinois (four) and Florida and New Jersey (each had three).

The law firms that made Hildebrandt’s list for 2012 include Bingham Greenebaum Doll, Faegre Baker Daniels, Ice Miller, and Norton Rose Canada. Another 2012 merger expected to be completed is that of Hagood & Kerr being acquired by Moore & Van Allen. The two law firms announced that they would merge in January back on December 28, 2011. Four partners and five associates will be added to the Moore & Van Allen Charleston office, which houses 30 lawyers right now.

A founding member of Hagood & Kerr, Ben Hagood, Jr., is a former South Carolina state legislator. Hagood Jr. specialized in government affairs work. The addition of the Hagood & Kerr practice to that of Moore & Van Allen will help to expand the expertise of Moore & Van Allen in the areas of labor and employment, transactions, and bankruptcy.

Moore & Van Allen, according to their financial records, saw its revenue increase by 2.2 percent to $164.5 million in 2010. The report also shows that profits per partner increase 8 percent to $870,000. The revenue per lawyer was $585,000.

According to the Hildebrandt report, the international sector has also seen interest in law firm mergers. Asia, Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom were noted by Hildebrandt as seeing major law firm mergers in 2011.

Nixon Peabody Adds Leading Attorneys to Private Client Practice

rebneely — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 11:47:26 +0000

Global law firm Nixon Peabody LLP has added leading partners Lawrence B. Cohen and Jay D. Rosenbaum, and staff, from Edwards Wildman, formerly Edwards Angell Palmer & Dodge LLP and Wildman, Harrold, Allen & Dixon to its established private client practice.

The addition of the team will advance Nixon’s leadership in managing trusts, estates, and assets of individuals and families in the U.S. and abroad. They will provide services including estate planning, international private client advisory, asset management and investment, and tax services.

With the addition of this team, Nixon Peabody holds in custody or under management for clients approximately $4 billion in assets.

Andrew I. Glincher, CEO & managing partner of Nixon Peabody was quoted as saying in a press release at the firm’s website: “Nixon Peabody’s Private Clients practice is second to none, with particular strength and resources in Boston. Larry, Jay, and their team are an excellent fit with our innovative and collaborative approach to meeting the needs of our clients. We are delighted to welcome them to Nixon Peabody.”

Cohen concentrates on estate planning, estate and trust administration, and business succession planning. Many of his clients are high-net-worth individuals, successful closely held businesses, and people and institutions seeking advice on probate, transfer and income tax, and related issues.

Cohen is the president of the board of trustees of the Jewish National Fund of New England, and is a member of the board of trustees of the Brookline Music School. He has served on the board at the Judge Baker Children’s Center and the Boston Estate Planning Council.

Rosenbaum focuses his practice on wealth transfer planning, estate and trust administration, and estate, gift and income tax minimization strategies for clients in the United States and abroad. In particular, he has experience with business succession and skillfully integrating business planning with wealth transfer planning, and advises companies and their owners on a variety of corporate transactions and transitions.

Rosenbaum will expand Nixon Peabody’s international private client efforts as he advises from the Boston and London offices on estate planning to U.S. citizens living abroad; non-citizen residents of the U.S.; and non-citizens with business or other significant assets in the U.S.

Rosenbaum is a co-chair of the Day School Education Commission of Combined Jewish Philanthropies (CJP), a member of CJP’s Development Committee, and a trustee of Gann Academy in Waltham, Massachusetts. He is a member of the Boston Bar Association and former co-chair of its Trusts and Estates Section, and serves on the Estate Planning Curriculum Committee for Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education (MCLE).

Both Cohen and Rosenbaum belong to the prestigious American College of Trust and Estate Counsel (ACTEC).

Deborah Anderson, leader of Nixon Peabody’s Private Clients practice was quoted as saying: “Larry and Jay are outstanding attorneys and are well-respected in the industry. We have worked beside them both throughout the years. The addition of this team builds upon a decades-long foundation of excellence in meeting the needs of our clients.”

Global law firm Nixon Peabody has over 700 attorneys throughout the U.S., Europe, and Asia. The firm serves a wide range of clients, including private individuals and entrepreneurs, to large corporations and financial institutions.

Morning Roundup

joshua — Fri, 04 Feb 2011 13:46:30 +0000

Good morning everyone! Today is Friday, November 4, and as we head into Super Bowl weekend, let’s take a quick look back at yesterday’s news…

2010 was another good year at Bingham…

Edwards Angell Palmer & Dodge merged a local firm into its DC office…

Blank Rome picked up a seven attorney consumer financial services practice group…

The exodus from Howrey continued as eleven attorneys moved to Morgan Lewis…

and as civil unrest gains intensity in Egypt, major law firms are shutting down local offices for the duration…

Although not part of our normal news coverage, we have our eyes on Egypt today as the protests swell to record size and the US pressures Mubarak to step down.

Edwards Angell Palmer & Dodge Absorbs Botique Firm in DC

joshua — Thu, 03 Feb 2011 21:47:54 +0000

added all 12 lawyers from botique firm Fleischman & Harding to its Washington DC office. Fleischman & Harding specialized in issues dealing with communication and their client base includes companies like Time Warner Cable, Mediacom, Cable One, and CW Network.Edwards Angell Palmer & Dodge

The 12 new members of EAPD include partners Aaron Fleischman, Art Harding, Seth Davidson, Larry Freedman, and Jeff Hardin along with Craig Gilley, Sharon Monahan and John Wilner, all three of whom join as counsel.

Both firms made enthusiastic statements about the extra benefits their clients will receive as a result of the merger. ”…[media company] clients and others will benefit immediately from Fleischman and Harding’s expertise, particularly in regulatory and legislative issues,” said Walter Reed, the managing partner of EAPD. “In addition, our new colleagues nicely complement our capabilities in a number of other areas, such as intellectual property and litigation.” For its part, Aaron I. Fleischman, the chairman and managing partner of Fleischman and Harding, added “Our clients will benefit from an enhanced range of legal services, and with EAPD’s terrific platform, we will be in an even better position to meet our clients’ needs.”

Discussions on Opening up India’s Legal Market Dropped from President Obama’s Agenda During Trip to India

joshua — Fri, 12 Nov 2010 14:04:36 +0000

During President Barack Obama’s highly publicized trip to India this week that was to focus on boosting trade and security ties between both countries, discussions about opening up the legal market in India were removed from the agenda.

According to the article at amlawdaily.com, Edwards Angell Palmer & Dodge corporate partner Shahana Basu Kanodia, chair of the firm’s South Asia practice, told Legally India’s Kian Ganz that opening up India’s legal market to foreign firms was a relatively low priority and had been sidelined in favor of discussions on job creation and democracy.

Ganz noted that when British Prime Minister David Cameron visited India this summer, he was accompanied by Clifford Chance outgoing senior partner Stuart Popham, who felt confident India would lift restrictions on foreign lawyers by 2012.

However, Edwards Angell’s Kanodia was more pessimistic about the future of foreign lawyers in India. She told Legally India’s Ganz, that the country’s legal market would likely remain closed until 2015, primarily because Indian businesses didn’t see the benefit in allowing foreign firms to practice locally.

The National Law Journal, a sibling publication, reports that last week, American Bar Association president Stephen Zack sent a letter to the President asking him to push the Indian government to drop its ban on foreign lawyers practicing or maintaining offices in the country.

Zack, a litigation partner at Boies, Schiller & Flexner in Miami, wrote that U.S. lawyers and their firms were being unfairly treated in India and that further restrictions of foreign lawyers would undermine goal of increasing trade between the two countries, The NLJ reports. Zack said he does not expect a response from Obama until the president returns to the country next week.

Morning News Roundup for Thursday

Erik Even — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 12:00:50 +0000

Good morning! Here are the top stories:

DLA Piper confirms that it laid off 21 lawyers and 100 staff yesterday…

Dewey & LeBoeuf has lured away a team of top lawyers from Cooley Godward Kronish…

Chicago’s Baker & McKenzie has announced it is laying off 11% of its lawyers and staff in China…

Edwards Angell has hired on two private equity and venture capital partners…

Weil Gotshal is cutting the salaries of new associates at its London office…

Edwards Angell Hires New Partners

Erik Even — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 21:15:42 +0000

Edwards Angell Palmer & Dodge has hired on two private equity and venture capital partners.

Richard Kimball joins as partner from Nutter McClennen & Fish, to chair Edwards Angell’s emerging companies/technology practice group in Boston. At Nutter, Kimball was co-chair of the firm’s emerging growth companies practice group, and founded the firm’s award winning TechnOvation Awards Program. His JD is from Harvard Law School.

David Ramm joins the firm as a partner in London, from that city’s Speechly Bircham/Campbell Hooper, where he headed up the firm’s growing PE/VC practice.

Edwards Angell is 97th on the list of the world’s largest law firms by 2006 revenue. The firm was formed by the 2005 merger of Edwards & Angell LLP and Palmer & Dodge LLP.

Edwards Angell Expands into California

Erik Even — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 16:37:25 +0000

Boston’s Edwards Angell Palmer & Dodge has opened its first California office.

Edwards Angell, which has 10 US offices, one in the UK, and an affiliated office in Hong Kong, is opening an office in Newport Beach.

The firm opened the office to accommodate a specific client. They intend to add more clients in Southern California.

Jon-Paul LaPointe, who joined Edwards Angell as counsel in the litigation management group, will head the new office.

The firm may hire three more attorneys for the California office in the near future. Two weeks ago Edwards Angell laid off 25 lawyers and 35 staff.

Edwards Angell is 97th on the list of the world’s largest law firms by 2006 revenue. The firm was formed by the 2005 merger of Edwards & Angell LLP and Palmer & Dodge LLP.

Edwards Angell Defers Start Dates, Cancels Summer Program

Erik Even — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 17:04:15 +0000

Yesterday, Edwards Angell announced the layoffs of 25 lawyers and 35 staff, or 15% of the firm’s workforce.

Today the firm announced will delay the start dates for its incoming first year associates to March 1, 2010.

Deferred first years will get a $10,000 stipend plus bar expenses.

The firm has also canceled its 2009 summer associate program. Edwards Angell will be paying $5,000 each to the nine students affected.

Edwards Angell Palmer & Dodge LLP is an American law firm based in Boston, Massachusetts. The firm is number 97 on the list of the world’s largest law firms by 2006 revenue. The firm was formed by the 2005 merger of Edwards & Angell LLP and Palmer & Dodge LLP.

Edwards Angell Lays Off 25 Attorneys, 35 Staffers

Erik Even — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 16:22:47 +0000

Edwards Angell Palmer & Dodge has announced today the layoffs of 25 lawyers and 35 staff. That’s roughly 15% of the firm’s workforce.

From the firm’s statement:

Today we will inform about 25 lawyers and 35 staff that their employment with the Firm is ended, and will offer them severance arrangements similar to those offered by the many other firms that have also made these difficult decisions.

Ropes & Gray Decimates Staff

Erik Even — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 17:01:04 +0000

Boston’s Ropes & Gray cut 106 staff positions, or 10% of its non-lawyer staff.

The firm made the cuts yesterday, and announced the news in a firmwide memo by Chairman Brad Malt.

Malt stated that the firm’s clients and marketplace “have been seriously affected by the continuing global economic downturn.”

Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld cut 65 staffers and Indianapolis-based Ice Miller cut about 14, or 2%, of its staff positions this month.

Reed Smith cut 115 U.S. staffers in December; Boston’s Goulston & Storrs eliminated 40 staff positions, also in December; and Boston’s Edwards Angell Palmer & Dodge let nearly 60 support staff members go in November.

Ropes & Gray LLP is a national law firm with offices located in Boston, New York City, Palo Alto, San Francisco, Washington, Chicago, Hong Kong and Tokyo; and a conference center in London. The firm has over 1,000 lawyers worldwide.

Foley Hoag Cuts 6%, or 32 Associates & Staff

Erik Even — Sat, 17 Jan 2009 01:13:21 +0000

Boston’s Foley Hoag has cut 6% of its workforce in response to the economic meltdown, the law firm has announced.

The layoffs affect 32 people, both associates and staff. Foley Hoag has 227 lawyers in Boston.

Although Foley Hoag had strong financial results in 2008, we have concluded that a reduction in personnel is a prudent step to ensure the continued strength of the firm in these unprecedented economic conditions. We believe the approximately 6 percent reduction in force that we have implemented today will vouchsafe the firm’s ability to continue to deliver the efficient and high quality service our clients have come to expect.

Blah blah blah.

Foley Hoag is the latest of several Boston law firms to announce staff and lawyer reductions, including Edwards Angell Palmer & Dodge and Goulston & Storrs PC.