The
big
in
Biglaw
just
keep
getting
bigger.
And
if
a
firm
can’t
pull
down
the
$7
billion
in
revenue
that
mega-firm
Kirkland
can,
merging
their
way
to
mammoth
status
is
a
great
option.
Towards
that
end,
American
Lawyer
confirms
that
Troutman
Pepper
Hamilton
Sanders
and
Locke
Lord
are
currently
in
merger
talks.
The
firms’
official
statement
on
the
matter
reads
as
follows,
“Troutman
Pepper
and
Locke
Lord
can
confirm
they
have
entered
into
discussions
about
a
possible
combination.
Our
first
priority
is
delivering
exceptional
legal
services
to
our
clients,
and
as
such,
we
will
have
no
further
comments
at
this
time.”
So…
how
would
Troutman
Locke
stack
up
in
the
Biglaw?
The
combined
firm
would
boast
about
1.600
attorneys
almost
certainly
rank
in
the
Am
Law
50.
Based
on
2023
numbers,
the
combo
firm
would
have
roughly
$1.570
billion
in
revenue
($1.072
billion
from
Troutman
and
Locke
Lord
kicking
in
$497.6
million),
placing
it
28th
overall.
Not
too
shabby.
Of
course,
there
would
also
be
redundancies
—
the
firms
each
have
offices
in
the
following
7
cities:
Atlanta,
Boston,
Chicago,
Los
Angeles,
New
York,
San
Francisco
and
Washington,
D.C.
But
some
of
the
overlap
between
the
firms
could
actually
be
a
benefit:
Kent
Zimmermann,
a
consultant
at
Zeughauser
Group,
said
a
merger
will
allow
the
firms
to
assume
a
more
dominant
market
leader
position
in
a
number
of
industry
sectors,
which
tends
to
build
demand
and
result
in
more
pricing
power.Zimmermann
has
for
the
last
decade
advised
Troutman
Pepper,
and
a
predecessor
firm,
on
strategy
and
growth
and
on
the
merger
talks.
He
said
the
shared
industry
sector
strengths
attracted
the
firms
to
each
other.“It’s
part
of
why
they
started
talking,”
he
said.The
sectors
are
energy,
insurance,
health
care
and
life
sciences,
private
equity,
financial
services
and
real
estate,
he
said.That
mutual
focus
on
those
sectors
is
important,
he
said,
because
two
common
threads
in
successful
law
firm
combinations
are
shared
strengths
and
shared
market
aspirations.A
combination
would
also
allow
both
firms
to
grow
geographically
and
achieve
growth
priorities.
While
we
don’t
know
precisely
how
advanced
the
merger
talks
are,
they
aren’t
finalized.
A
combination
would
require
partner
votes
at
both
firms,
neither
of
which
have
yet
been
scheduled.
Kathryn
Rubino
is
a
Senior
Editor
at
Above
the
Law,
host
of
The
Jabot
podcast,
and
co-host
of
Thinking
Like
A
Lawyer.
AtL
tipsters
are
the
best,
so
please
connect
with
her.
Feel
free
to
email
her
with
any
tips,
questions,
or
comments
and
follow
her
on
Twitter
@Kathryn1 or
Mastodon
@Kathryn1@mastodon.social.