When
we
said
that
Biglaw
had
merger
fever
and
that
it
was
contagious,
we
really
weren’t
kidding.
Two
more
large
firms
have
just
announced
a
combination.
As
reported
by
the
American
Lawyer,
Ashurst
—
which
has
been
searching
for
a
U.S.
partner
for
quite
some
time
—
and
Perkins
Coie
—
which
has
been
at
war
ever
since
the
Trump
administration
lobbed
an
unconstitutional
Executive
Order
its
way
—
today
announced
a
tie-up.
A
merger
between
Ashurst
and
Perkins
creates
a
transatlantic
firm
with
upwards
of
$2.58
billion
gross
revenue,
with
3,000
lawyers
(including
700
partners,
with
PEP
clocking
in
at
about
$1.82
million)
spread
globally
across
47
offices.
There
were
some
major
clues
that
the
firms
were
headed
down
this
path.
Last
week,
for
example,
a
partner
from
Perkins
filed
a
trademark
application
for
Ashurst
Perkins
Coie.
On
top
of
that,
Am
Law
further
noted
that
the
domain
name
ashurstperkins.com
was
registered
on
November
14.
Did
media
pressure
force
the
firms
to
make
this
merger
announcement
early?
We
may
never
know.
For
some
Biglaw
firms,
even
bigger
is
even
better
—
let’s
see
how
things
work
out
for
Ashurst
Perkins
Coie,
which
is
slated
to
be
a
serious
global
contender.
Ashurst
and
Perkins
Coie
Merger
Announcement
Imminent
[American
Lawyer]
Staci
Zaretsky is
the
managing
editor
of
Above
the
Law,
where
she’s
worked
since
2011.
She’d
love
to
hear
from
you,
so
please
feel
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