Biglaw

Another Day, Another Transatlantic Biglaw Merger To Create A 1600-Lawyer Megafirm

It's been less than a week since the last one, so let's have another Biglaw merger.

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Here’s a picture of a merger even though this is a story about a merger between two female managing partners because stock images are convinced only white men do business.

Bryan Cave and Berwin Leighton Paisner have joined forces to form Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner, which obviously sucks for old Berwin but should brighten the day of the joint firm’s current lawyers, who will now boast the “fourth-largest real estate practice among law firms.”

Before getting into what this means for the new firm, it’s worth pointing out that this is a good sign for real estate generally. Berwin Leighton Paisner took some flack in 2016 for freezing junior attorney salaries over fears that Brexit would disrupt the firm’s core high-end commercial property work. They ultimately loosened up when the market didn’t suffer as badly as expected. But Brexit still impacted the firm in a significant way — partner Chris Bryant wrote Brexit: The Musical.

When you think about it, this merger resembles the Hunton & Williams and Andrews Kurth deal, finalized less than a week ago. While Hunton Andrews Kurth built its merger around an opportunity to combine an oil and gas practice with a thriving utilities practice, Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner seems focused on a globally minded real estate practice.

In that way, this deal makes a lot more sense than the two firms’ prior efforts to get hitched. Bryan Cave sniffed around Dickstein Shapiro and Squire, Sanders & Dempsey in the past. Meanwhile, Berwin Leighton Paisner was racing to the altar with Greenberg Traurig before that fell through.

And it makes sense for the partners involved too. From American Lawyer:

both firms have broadly similar profits per partner, with BLP posting PPP of £630,000 ($836,876) for fiscal 2016-17 and Bryan Cave having a similar figure of $865,000 (£655,584) for 2016.

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Looks pretty good. Roy Strom has more on what this means for the legal landscape:

A firm with $900 million in gross revenue last year would have ranked No. 37 in the most recent Am Law 100 list and No. 44 in the Global 100 rankings, directly between McDermott Will & Emery and Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy in both tables. Bryan Cave, whose 2017 financial results have not yet been disclosed, reported $608 million in gross revenue for 2016. BLP, meanwhile, took in £272 million ($361.3 million) in gross revenue during fiscal 2016-17.

With mergers continuing at a breakneck pace, it’s going to be interesting to see that Am Law 100 next year. I wonder how many names will match the 2015 list?

This is also a merger between two firms helmed by women, a fact that one hopes will be looked at as a curious non-sequitur by readers 20 years from now. Maybe by then, there will be better stock images to use.

Bryan Cave, BLP Partners Approve Trans-Atlantic Merger

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Earlier: Biglaw Merger Creates New 1,000 Lawyer Firm
Biglaw Firm Contemplating Transatlantic Merger

HeadshotJoe Patrice is an editor at Above the Law and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. Feel free to email any tips, questions, or comments. Follow him on Twitter if you’re interested in law, politics, and a healthy dose of college sports news.

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