Report: Law firm mergers are down from last year

There have been 47 deals announced through mid year, says the report, with 20 in the second quarter, the latest figures of law firm mergers show. By comparison, there were 51 in the first half of 2018.  “It may seem counter-intuitive, but we’re actually seeing increased interest in large deals behind the scenes,” Thomas S. Clay, a principal for Altman Weil was quoted as saying. “However, the larger and more complex a combination is, the more slowly it is likely to progress and that can cause a temporary dip in the deal flow,” Clay said.

One of the biggest names in the second quarter mergers list was New York-based firm Greenberg Traurig, with 2,000 lawyers, which merged with its longstanding Italian partner, Santa Maria Studio Legale in Milan. And global megafirm Denton’s grew even more by adding smaller firms in Zimbabwe and in Australia.