It’s an old story. A law firm gets antsy, it can’t compete, and starts craving a larger firm to contain it, to tell it all things will be alright, like a big brother or a strong spouse. Name for size, that’s the question, and in the case of Shefsky & Froelich Ltd., they took two years figuring out who they would give up their name to in exchange for bulk and renown.
They finally settled on Taft Stettinius & Hollister LPS. Their current firm, which is 70 strong in Cincinnati, will be bolstered to about 400 lawyers strong, and though it once prided itself as the law firm to choose for city zoning matters and casino-type litigation, they will now expand and become more diverse in what they offer.
“We actually see opportunity in what is happening right now,” said Thomas Terp, who courted the smaller Shefksy firm, speaking to the lessons in austerity and frugality the Great Recession has taught law. “There are a growing number of clients who are getting tired of paying $900, $1,000, or more an hour.”
His frugality in pricing is part of what won the heart of good old Shefksy, which did not want to becomes some litigitical monolith that charged exorbitant fees. Mr. Froelich, a former SEC lawyer, explained his choice to merge, as reported by Crain’s Chicago Business. “Litigation-wise we were great; transaction-wise we were not. We wanted high-caliber lawyers. They didn’t want to join us. We lost out on some significant lateral partners.”
But holding to their principles and their magnanimous pricing philosophy, they finally landed a place with a firm they approve of. Having revolted nine other law firms, some as large as 1,000 strong they found one that, while admittedly in the practice of eating up eager firms, this being the sixth merger in 13 years, shared a philosophy Shefsky could get behind.
In this, they were able to get the best of both worlds: to be absorbed into a sturdy firm with a mind of its own, yet to hold on to their values.