Monthly Archives: January 2012

Survey Projects Legal Hiring Increase in First Quarter

Posted on January 6, 2012 by | 1 Comment

The latest Robert Half Legal Hiring Survey reveals that for the first quarter of 2012, lawyers are still cautious about hiring, but “optimistic enough” to want to add personnel in key positions, both legal and support staff.  And while the survey canvassed relatively small firms and corporations – 100 lawyers at law firms with 20 or more employees and 100 corporate lawyers at companies with 1,000 or more employees – approximately one-third of the lawyers interviewed plan to add legal staff in the next three months, while only 4 percent plan to reduce personnel.  The net 27 percent increase in projected hiring is up three points from the previous quarter’s forecast.  

Key findings include: 

  • Lawyers plan to add an average of two full-time positions.
  • Lawyers will most likely hire lawyers (88%), paralegals (39%) and legal secretaries (35%).
  • Twenty-nine percent identified bankruptcy and foreclosure as the area of law that will experience the most growth, followed by litigation (23%) and labor and employment (12%).
  • Fifty-one percent said it is challenging to find skilled legal professionals, up two points from the previous quarter. 
  • Seventy-three percent are somewhat or very confident in their companies’ prospects for growth in the first quarter, representing a nine-point decline from the fourth quarter of 2011.

Charles Volkert, executive director of Robert Half Legal reports that: 

“Law firms and corporate legal departments place a premium on candidates with proven skills and relevant experience who can fill gaps in expertise and make immediate contributions.  Experienced lawyers continue to have a hiring edge, while employers also value seasoned paralegals and legal secretaries.”

With respect to law departments, the survey reports that general counsel are hiring full-time legal staff and project professionals to handle more work in-house in an effort to reduce outside legal spend, a trend that has been widely discussed and that we reported on last November.

The survey was developed by Robert Half Legal and was conducted by an independent research firm based on telephone interviews. All of the respondents have hiring authority within their organizations.

Posted by Marianne Purzycki

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Charleston on Their Minds

Posted on January 5, 2012 by | Leave a comment

One of the busiest deep water ports in the Southeast —  Charleston, South Carolina —  has recently been getting a lot of attention for the shipping volume that passes through the Port of Charleston ever year.  Port activity, plus the fact that Charleston is a high-growth area in a pro-business state, has made the city an attractive location for employers such as Boeing and BAE Systems.  And law firms, both regional and global in scope, have noticed.

In FY 2010, the port ranked eighth largest in dollar value of international shipments with cargo valued at the more than $50 billion.  This past fiscal year ended June 30, container volume rose 8.3%.    Ships that are too big for the existing Panama Canal (“post-Panamax ships”) are routinely handled by the port and more are expected when the widening of the Canal is completed in 2014.  With the region’s deepest channels, the port provides more than 20,000 companies in several dozen states with access to global markets.  And the port is investing over $1.3 billion over the next decade to improve its facilities, including the construction of a new container terminal on the site of a former Navy base.

Since last April, four law firms have made plays to either kick-start or strengthen their presence in the region.  The most recent announcement came this week, with the news that Charlotte, North Carolina-based Moore & Van Allen enlarged its existing 25-lawyer Charleston office by combining with the nine-lawyer firm of Hagood & Kerr.  The new lawyers bring added depth to the firm’s office in bankruptcy, labor and employment, transactions, and governmental affairs.

Large firms are also getting in on the action.  In December, K&L Gates announced that it had opened a location in Charleston with the addition of a seven-partner team from North Carolina’s Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein (the Parker Poe office was established in 2004 with five attorneys from Nexsen Pruet).   While K&L Gates is no stranger to the Carolinas – the firm acquired North Carolina-based Kennedy Covington in 2008 – the firm is the first global law firm to open an office in South Carolina.  The new team includes Matt Norton whose practice focuses on commercial real estate and resort development throughout the southeastern United States, Caribbean, and Latin America.

Growth in the Charleston legal market was further enhanced last April by two North Carolina-based firms.  Smith Moore Leatherwood expanded its footprint in the Southeast with the launch of a new four-lawyer office and this week the firm added corporate attorney Michael Hickerson from Moore & Van Allen.  Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice merged with 44-lawyer Buist Moore Smythe McGee, giving the firm a new office in Charleston and access to Buist Moore’s admiralty and maritime practice.  

Similar to what is happening in Western Pennsylvania, where firms are increasingly being drawn to energy work in the Marcellus Shale, firms are locating to Charleston to take advantage of strategic growth opportunities in specific industries.  Even in an overall depressed economy, there are bright spots to focus on.

Posted by Marianne Purzycki

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Law Firm Mergers Rebound Strongly in 2011; Trend Predicted to Continue in 2012

Posted on January 4, 2012 by | 8 Comments

In mid-November the Hildebrandt Institute predicted that law firm mergers would rebound strongly in 2011 and we can now report that we tracked 45 completed mergers last year that involved U.S. firms.   This is a 67% increase over 2010, a year that saw only 27 mergers, reflecting a slowdown in the overall demand for legal services at that point in time.  And while firms continue to remain somewhat cautious about large combinations – often preferring regional tie-ups – merger activity appears to be heading back towards pre-recessionary levels which typically saw 55+ mergers per year. With a rise in mergers in the fourth quarter to 14 (up from nine in the third quarter) and with the new year already off to a strong start, we predict this trend will continue in 2012.

The largest merger in 2011 between two U.S.-based firms was the combination of Kilpatrick Stockton and Townsend Townsend and Crew to create Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton, followed by the Edwards Angell Palmer & Dodge and Wildman, Harrold, Allen & Dixon combination that created Edwards Wildman Palmer. 

Mergers in 2011 covered a wide range of locations including seven mergers in California, six of which were in Los Angeles; five in Texas, of which four were in Houston; four in Illinois; and three apiece in Florida and New Jersey.

There have been 11 U.S. mergers announced thus far in 2012, which is almost double the number (6) announced by this point a year ago. The Midwest is a locus of activity, and Indianapolis in particular, accounting for three mergers involving firms based there. The largest of these mergers is the combination of Faegre & Benson in Minneapolis and Baker & Daniels in Indianapolis, which began operating as Faegre Baker Daniels on January 1.  Kentucky’s Greenebaum Doll & McDonald combined with Indianapolis’ Bingham McHale to become Bingham Greenebaum Doll (January 2) and Ice Miller in Indianapolis combined with Schottenstein Zox & Dunn in Columbus, Ohio (January 1).  In addition, Bryan Cave in St. Louis and Denver’s Holme Roberts & Owen announced their combination which also went live on January 1.

Illustrating the continuing globalization of the legal industry, mergers outside the U.S. jumped to 54 in 2011 compared to the 44 and 48 that we tracked in 2010 and 2009, respectively.  Many of the cross-border tie-ups were significant in size, including the 1,275 lawyer combination of Squire Sanders & Dempsey with Hammonds in the U.K. in January (followed later in the year by Squire Sanders with 80+ Perth-based lawyers from Minter Ellison).  In the spring, DLA Piper combined with Australia’s DLA Phillips Fox creating a firm with over 4,000 lawyers. Canadian law firm Ogilvy Renault and South African law firm Deneys Reitz joined Norton Rose Group in June creating a global law practice of 2,500 lawyers.

However, not all large mergers outside the U.S. last year were across national boundaries.  In the U.K., Clyde & Co combined with Barlow Lyde & Gilbert creating a firm with over 1,250 fee earners, and Beachcroft combined with Davies Arnold Cooper to create DAC Beachcroft with over 1,200 legal professionals.  Canadian firms McMillan and Lang Michener combined to create a firm of 400 lawyers.

For 2012, a number of large cross-border mergers are in the wings or have recently become effective, with Canada, Australia and Asia key locations of interest. Norton Rose Group combined with Canadian law firm Macleod Dixon on January 1, creating an international legal practice with more than 2,900 lawyers. The U.K.’s Ashurst and Australia’s Blake Dawson announced plans to combine their businesses in Asia by March 2012 with a full merger, conditional on a further vote of the partnerships, by 2014.  And recently, Australia’s Mallesons Stephen Jaques and China’s King & Wood announced the combination of their firms to create King & Wood Mallesons, effective March 1, 2012, with over 1,800 lawyers.

Posted by Marianne Purzycki

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