Law Firm News

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Law Firm News

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Reed Smith

Reed Smith Merger Would Create 1,300-Attorney Global Firm
Pittsburgh-based law firm plans to merge with U.K.'s Richards Butler: - Reed Smith has announced its intent to merge with 250-attorney, London-based Richards Butler. The merger -- which is subject to due diligence, negotiation of a merger agreement and partnership votes -- is expected to be completed in late May, with the launch of the new firm by Jan. 1, 2007.

As far as financials are concerned, the merger would not affect Reed Smith's 2006 performance, firmwide chairman Gregory B. Jordan said.

In a statement issued by Richards Butler, the firm said the combination would come with a forecast of global revenues in the area of $725 million.

The new entity will be known as Reed Smith, but certain markets in Europe will carry the name Reed Smith Richards Butler.

The announcement comes six months after Pittsburgh-based Reed Smith ended merger discussions with 200-attorney Chicago firm Wildman Harrold Allen & Dixon due to client conflicts.

Jordan said the firm is still interested in markets like Chicago and Texas, but he said, "this one kind of took over."

He said that it seems the two firms' practice areas are in harmony, and client conflicts don't look to be a problem.

Richards Butler, a top-30 U.K. law firm, has an affiliate with Richards Butler Hong Kong. Jordan said that the 100-lawyer firm is not currently a part of the letter of intent.

"We are very intent in maintaining the relationship with that group," he said. "If we can work things out with Richards Butler Hong Kong, that would put us in a great, great position."

According to Jordan, the Hong Kong firm is well respected in the area, and having a connection there would satisfy the firm's immediate goals of entering the Asian market.

A merger with Richards Butler U.K. would bring the combined firm to more than 1,300 attorneys and bring Reed Smith's London presence to almost 300 attorneys.

The combination would also come close to doubling the number of attorneys in the firm's new Paris office, where it now has 12 lawyers.

If the merger goes through, Reed Smith would have 100 lawyers in London working on corporate and finance transactions, 100 working on commercial disputes, arbitration and shipping, 50 handling real estate, and 15 handling the combined employment and business immigration practice.

Jordan said the merger would give Reed Smith a stronger litigation practice in London to supplement its U.S. litigation group.

"The U.K. can sometimes be a challenging market with respect to expansion," Frank D'Amore of Attorney Career Catalysts said, adding that Reed Smith most likely thought this through.

He said the merger speaks to the further stratification of law firms into categories of regional, national, international and global firms. He said the merger is most likely a clear move meant to signal that Reed Smith is looking to be seen as a global firm.

Jordan said Richards Butler brings the firm practices in shipping, international trade, finance and media. The merger will also strengthen both firms' financial services practices, according to a statement by Reed Smith's managing partner in England, Tim Foster.

Jordan said Richards Butler is one of the biggest firms in shipping and international trade, and represents clients with significant U.S. operations.

He said the London firm could not service those clients without the help of a U.S. firm.

Not only will the merger bulk up the firm's presence in London, but it will expand Reed Smith into areas like Piraeus, Greece and Abu Dhabi.

Claudia Spielman of BCG Attorney Search in Los Angeles said that after Hong Kong, the hottest area for firms to be is in the Middle East, particularly Dubai and Abu Dhabi.

D'Amore said firms that are looking to be international need to be in more than one overseas location. He said offices need to be strategically placed around the world.

Jordan said part of Reed Smith's strategy was to expand its presence in London and move into the Asian and Middle East markets.

"Richards Butler is the kind of firm that allows you to do both of those things in one swing," he said.

Reed Smith's strategy team identified several firms that would be potential merger candidates, and Jordan said that after expressing interest to Richards Butler around January, the discussions "really took off."

Over the past few months, the firms' boards have met, and Richards Butler is planning on sending a delegate to Reed Smith's retreat in early May, Jordan said.

From about June until Jan. 1, 2007, the firms will be working on integrating the businesses and meeting each others' clients.

Both firms predicted the move would place the new entity in the top 20 global law firms. In 2004, Reed Smith ranked 39 on The American Lawyer's ranking of top global firms.

In 2005, the firm showed its fifth straight year of improved financials.

Reed Smith saw a 21 percent increase in profits per partner in 2005, jumping from $662,000 in 2004 to $800,000 last year.

Its revenue for 2005 was $563 million, a 12 percent increase over the $504 million in revenue in 2004.

Revenue per lawyer also increased, going up about 10 percent from $553,000 in 2004 to $609,000 in 2005.

According to information from a spokesperson for Reed Smith, Richards Butler works on an April-to-April fiscal year. The firm's projected gross revenue for 2005 is $107 million and its projected RPL is $529,000, according to the spokesperson.

Some media reports have said that Richards Butler was in merger talks with New York-based Proskauer Rose last year, but the talks failed because of a gap in the firm's profits per equity partner, with Proskauer Rose reporting a PPP of $1.14 million in 2004.

Spielman said Reed Smith is a better match because Proskauer Rose's billing rates are higher than Reed Smith's.

"If Proskauer was even interested [in Richards Butler], I would say that's a pretty good sign" that the firm is in the right markets, Spielman said.

D'Amore said that firms can have a 5, 10 or even 15 percent difference in PPP, but after that a merger can become very challenging.

Other media reports place Richards Butler's PPP at a slightly higher level than Reed Smith.

The new firm will be led by Jordan as firmwide managing partner, with Roger Parker of Richards Butler joining Reed Smith's senior management team and taking on the role of European managing partner for the merged firm.

Foster will continue in his now-expanded role as U.K. managing partner. Both Parker and Paul Johnston, chairman of Richards Butler, will also join Reed Smith partner Ian B. Fagelson as European representatives on an expanded executive committee.

This is not the first London merger for Reed Smith in recent years. The firm merged with Warner Cranston in 2001.

Richards Butler cited the success of that merger as a way it could better fit in with Reed Smith.

04-06-2006

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Goodwin Procter, LLP

Goodwin Procter Adds Life Sciences Partner to Boston Office
Goodwin Procter LLP, one of the nation’s leading law firms with offices in Boston, New York and Washington, DC, today announced that Edmund R. Pitcher has joined the firm as a partner in its Life Sciences Practice, resident in the Boston office.

Pitcher brings to Goodwin Procter more than 30 years of experience in all aspects of intellectual property law as counsel to companies exploiting biological, pharmaceutical, chemical and medical technologies, and to their private and public investors.

Goodwin Procter has significant experience advising life sciences companies, with more than 150 of the firm’s attorneys with substantial experience representing clients in the industry. The firm’s attorneys combine legal acumen, in-depth industry experience and scientific capabilities across all biological, chemical and medical technologies to deliver outstanding results.

Pitcher joins Goodwin Procter from Flagship Ventures, an early-stage venture capital firm based in Cambridge, Mass. As a venture partner with Flagship, he focused on evaluation of life science and information technology investment opportunities, intellectual property issues, and designing intellectual property strategies and assessing intellectual property risks in connection with Flagship start-ups and portfolio companies.

Prior to Flagship, Pitcher was a longtime partner at Testa, Hurwitz & Thibeault, where he founded and served as chair of the Patent & Intellectual Property practice group. Before joining Testa, he was a founding partner of Lahive & Cockfield, an intellectual property boutique firm in Boston.

04-05-2006

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Boundas, Skarzynski, Walsh & Black, LLC

BSWB's Vince Suba obtains summary judgment and dismissal of New York State Supreme Court legal malpractice action.
BSWB Attorney, Vince Suba, succeeded in obtaining summary judgment and dismissal of a legal malpractice complaint against a law firm that allegedly failed to obtain Workers’ Compensation benefits on behalf of the plaintiff. New York State Supreme Court Justice David I. Schmidt dismissed the complaint on the grounds that plaintiff failed to demonstrate that she would have prevailed had she proceeded in an action against her employer. Mary McKinney v. Severance, Burko & Spalter, P.C., Index No. 6423/98 (Sup. Ct., Kings County, March 10, 2006).

04-05-2006

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Ashurst LLP

Ashurst Germany advised Wepa Papierfabrik on its acquisition of business operations of Hakle factory in Mainz
Ashurst Germany advised Wepa Papierfabrik P. Krengel GmbH & Co. KG on its acquisition of the business operations of the Hakle factory in Mainz and Elfi-Papier GmbH from Hakle-Kimberly Deutschland GmbH. With this acquisition Wepa increases its production capacity in the field of hygiene paper products by 20 per cent and takes over 200 employees.

The transaction took place on 1 April 2006 and did not include the Hakle brand which remains with Kimberly-Clark.

Ashurst's advisory mandate included the purchase agreement as well as the provision of legal advice involving corporate, commercial, cartel, environmental, tax, sales and labour law issues.

The team was led by corporate partner Dr. Hermann Schlindwein and Dr. Dirk Janssen, assisted by Stefanie Hartmann. Also advising were employment partner Andreas Vogel with Tobias Neufeld and Juditha Kross, tax partner Klaus Herkenroth with Nina Siewert, intellectual property partner Manja Epping with Marcus Nothhelfer, Gaby Eickstädt with Henning Lutz (competition), Peter Junghänel (real estate), and Dr. Jutta Geiger (environment).

Clifford Chance advised the seller.

04-05-2006

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Much, Shelist, Freed, Denenberg, Ament & Rubenstein, P.C.

Firm Launches New Litigation & Counseling Alert
Much Shelist has launched the new Litigation & Counseling Alert, a series of electronic communications authored by members of the firm's Litigation practice group. Distributed on a monthly basis, these alerts will cover timely topics of interest to our clients and friends, with a focus on ways to succeed in business litigation or avoid it altogether. In the inaugural issue, Neil B. Posner, head of the firm's Policyholders' Insurance Coverage department, explores the risks surrounding late or inadequate notice regarding insurance claims.

Read the April 2006 alert: ""Insurance Claims: Late or Inadequate Coverage Can Cost You Your Coverage

04-05-2006

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Brown McCarroll, L.L.P.

Brown McCarroll, L.L.P. Welcomes J. Christopher Hughes, New Environmental & Utility Attorney in Austin
Austin, TX - Brown McCarroll, L.L.P. is pleased to announce the addition of J. Christopher Hughes to the Austin office as Partner in the Environmental, Utilities and Telecom Section. Mr. Hughes has over 20 years of experience in regulatory and legislative law, corporate communications, and public risk strategy for a variety of companies and organizations.

At Brown McCarroll, Mr. Hughes’ practice will focus on managing regulatory and legislative risk for the firm’s clients, especially in the energy industry. Mr. Hughes will take a lead role in assisting clients in the development and management of energy assets in Texas and in the continued growth of the firm’s leading electric and environmental regulatory practices.

Mr. Hughes was previously the Regional Vice President for Exelon Generation Co. in the South and West and held external affairs positions with Entergy and Continental Airlines prior to that. Mr. Hughes has also served in key staff roles in the Texas Governor’s office, the United States Senate and the Texas State Senate. He holds a B.A. in Government from the University of Texas and a J.D. from the University of Houston.

About Brown McCarroll, L.L.P.
Brown McCarroll, L.L.P., was founded in 1938 and is a multi-disciplinary law firm with offices located in Austin, Dallas, Houston, Longview, and El Paso. Brown McCarroll delivers results for a variety of clients who have needs for regional representation throughout the state of Texas and the Southwest. More information can be found at www.brownmccarroll.com.

04-05-2006

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Torys LLP

New Director Appointed to the International League for Human Rights
Torys is pleased to announce that Alana Martell has been appointed to the board of the International League for Human Rights.

The league is one of the most prominent human rights organizations in the United States. Alana's appointment is an outgrowth of the pro bono and other volunteer work she has done for the league.

04-05-2006

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