Biglaw, Law Firm Mergers

Biglaw Firm Announces Two Mergers In Span Of Two Weeks

Exciting news, but will this inspire the firm to adjust its salary scale?

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There must be something other than lead in the water in Philadelphia, because one Biglaw firm is on a spree when it comes to mergers.

Last week, Philadelphia-based Ballard Spahr announced that it would be merging with Minneapolis-based Lindquist & Vennum, effective January 1, 2018. Today, Ballard Spahr announced that it would be merging with D.C.-based First Amendment and media law powerhouse Levine Sullivan Koch & Schulz, effective October 1, 2017. The combined firm will continue to operate as Ballard Spahr, and when all is said and done, the firm will have almost 700 lawyers across 15 offices. In the most recent Am Law 100 rankings, Ballard Spahr was ranked 99th for gross revenue and 95th for profits per partner.

As far as Ballard Spahr’s merger with Lindquist & Vennum is concerned, the firms had been discussing a possible combination for at least a year prior to last week’s announcement. What as the driving force behind the merger talks? According to Ballard Spahr chairman Mark Stewart, the firm was very interested in “deepening [its] business and finance practice,” and the acquisition of Lindquist & Vennum would give the firm a “well-known and highly regarded mergers and acquisitions and private equity group.” Here’s some additional information on the merger from the Legal Intelligencer:

Lindquist & Vennum managing partner Dennis O’Malley will now be part of Ballard Spahr’s executive team, Stewart said, and a partner from Lindquist & Vennum will also join the compensation committee. In the one market where both firms are present, Denver, the Lindquist & Vennum lawyers will move into Ballard Spahr’s existing office.

Ballard Spahr’s merger with Levine Sullivan, on the other hand, will help bolster the firm’s renowned media and entertainment law practice. Since the firm was founded, Levine Sullivan has represented almost every major newspaper and television network in high-profile cases. Here’s more information from Ballard Spahr’s press release announcing the merger:

LSKS has been at the vanguard in representing the media in many of the most significant and consequential First Amendment cases in recent years. Last month, the firm achieved dismissal in federal court of a defamation suit brought against The New York Times by former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin. LSKS also helped the Associated Press obtain the release of sealed documents in the Bill Cosby sexual assault cases; successfully defended NBCUniversal in a defamation suit brought by George Zimmerman, the man acquitted in the fatal shooting of Trayvon Martin; and succeeded in reversing a jury verdict against the estate of famed Navy SEAL Chris Kyle in a case brought by Jesse Ventura following the publication of Kyle’s best-selling book American Sniper: The Autobiography of the Most Lethal Sniper in U.S. Military History.

Congratulations to Ballard Spahr on this exciting merger news. Who knows, with all of the extra cash coming in, the firm might finally decide to make the move to the $180,000 salary scale — and even if the firm isn’t willing to go that high, a smaller raise could still be in order. As it stands, the firm’s Philadelphia office, its largest, has a starting salary of $150,000. Last summer, Stewart said he had no intention of raising salaries for first-year associates because the firm “could never explain it to the clients,” but with these changes on the horizon, perhaps the firm’s pastures will become a little greener for associates.

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Ballard Spahr Grows to 650 Lawyers With Lindquist & Vennum Deal [Legal Intelligencer]
Ballard Spahr to Merge with Levine Sullivan, Growing Media Practice [New York Law Journal]

Staci ZaretskyStaci Zaretsky has been an editor at Above the Law since 2011. She’d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments. You can follow her on Twitter or connect with her on LinkedIn.

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