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American Juris Society

This Merger Of Two Biglaw Firms Lasted Less Than Two Years

Ed. Note: Welcome to our daily feature Trivia Question of the Day!

In 2006, a conservative, old-line San Francisco firm merged with a scrappy, tech-focused New York firm to create a bicoastal Am Law 100 player with a mouthful of a name (five surnames long). The cultures never meshed, the two sides’ compensation models clashed, and within two years all three name partners from the New York side had bolted. What is the name of the firm that hastily scrubbed their names from the masthead and went hunting for a rescue merger, but when that fell through, voted to dissolve in October 2008 — one of the first big casualties of the Great Recession, alongside Heller Ehrman. 

Hint: After the New York name partners departed, the firm shortened its name to honor only its San Francisco founder, who, as ATL noted at the time, “isn’t going anywhere.” Its failed rescue partner was Nixon Peabody.

See the answer on the next page.

The post This Merger Of Two Biglaw Firms Lasted Less Than Two Years appeared first on Above the Law.

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