“Merger activity and interest is continuing to pick up,” says Hildebrandt Baker Robbins’ Law Firm Strategy and Merger Practices head Lisa Smith, “While mergers are down in total numbers relative to last year, based on the sluggish activity in the first quarter, the average size of the combinations being completed and being considered is on the rise, indicating that firms are willing to undertake significant transactions to advance their strategies.”
A trans-border unification makes the largest of the quarter’s mergers. Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal from the United States and the United Kingdom’s Denton Wilde Sapte came together to create SNR Denton totaling nearly 1,250 lawyers, though the size was atypical for the quarter. Three of the mergers only involved the acquiring of around 20 lawyers.
In total, there have been 20 mergers in the first three quarters of 2010. Last year showed 49 in the first three quarters.