US law firm mergers slow down

There were 25 mergers in the US in the first half of this year, up from 22 in the same period last year. The rate at which mergers are taking place does however seem to have slowed, with just five mergers in the second quarter, all of which involved larger firms taking over firms with less than 12 lawyers. The figures come from the latest Hildebrandt Institute MergerWatch Report. Despite the increase in mergers this year, law firm link-ups are still not occuring at the pre-recession rate; there were 42 mergers in the first half of 2009 and 36 in the first half of 2008. In the press release, Hildebrandt describes a "somewhat cautious" attitude among law firms in a "difficult" business environment.

US law firm mergers slow down abajournal.com Thu, Jul 5, 2012