After the Big Mergers: Where the Movement Will Come From

This summer two transatlantic mergers went live within days of each other. Ashurst and Perkins Coie completed on 29 June, creating a firm with more than 950 partners, around 3,500 fee earners and 52 offices. Hogan Lovells and Cadwalader followed on 1 July, launching with more than 300 lawyers in New York and plans to grow its M&A and private equity teams there.

Big announcements and plenty of press. From a headhunter's seat, the interesting part starts now, months after the launch.

Why the first year matters

On announcement day, everyone hears the story. In the first year, the detail lands. Conflict checks across two client lists, new rates, new systems, who sits on which committee, and whose practice area is the priority and whose is the add on.

Any of those can move people. A partner whose biggest client gets conflicted out has a real decision to make. A team whose rates go up may find some of its mid market clients cannot follow. An associate whose supervising partner leaves often goes with them.

Who I would expect to move

• Partners with clients who are now conflicted, or priced out by higher rates.
• Teams that were central at the old firm and feel like a side office at the new one.
• Associates who joined a firm of a few hundred lawyers and now work at one of several thousand.
• People who were already on the fence and see the merger as a natural point to decide.

The other side

I will be straight, recruiters always say mergers lead to exits, because it suits us to say it. Plenty of people inside these firms will do very well. Bigger platform, bigger deals, more international work and, in some cases, US style pay. For an ambitious associate who wants cross border work, the merged firm may be the best place they could be.

So I would not tell anyone to leave just because their firm merged. I would tell them to keep a close eye on a few things over the next twelve months.

If you are at a merged firm

These are the signs I would watch.

• What happens to your partner's client list once conflicts are run.
• Whether your team's rates go up, and whether clients stay with you when they do.
• Who from your side of the old firm ends up in management.

If they all look fine, you are probably in a good place. If two of them look off, it is worth a conversation, even if you end up staying put.

If you are hiring

Mid market and regional firms can do well out of this. Clients who are priced out of a merged giant need a new home, and they often follow the partner they trust. A team that feels sidelined at a merged firm can be the quickest way to build a practice you have wanted for years.

Timing matters. Approach too early and people are still giving the new firm a chance. In my view, six months to a year in is when the details have landed and people are ready to listen.

If you are thinking about adding a team, or you are at a merged firm and want to understand your options with no pressure, when would you be free for a quick chat next week?

Sources

• The Global Legal Post, Ashurst and Perkins Coie complete merger
• Bloomberg Law, Hogan Lovells Cadwalader debuts with New York growth plan