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When 2024 first began, industry experts predicted that law firms would have quite the “appetite” for mergers, with one analyst going so far as to say that interest in growth via merger was at “an all-time high.” Lo and behold, those predictions have come true, with 20 mergers already completed in just the first quarter of the year alone — a 25% increase over merger activity that took place in Q1 of 2023.
As noted in a recent report by Fairfax Associates, all of these mergers reflect “a likely uptick in law firm merger activity in 2024.” Here are some additional details, courtesy of the American Lawyer:
Indeed, with the benefits of scale more apparent, more firms than ever before are willing to consider marriage proposals. And firms with between 400 and 800 lawyers are especially hungry to acquire smaller firms right now, which themselves may be looking at succession planning and trying to find ways to provide a boost for the future, noted Lisa Smith, a principal at Fairfax.
“I think it’s more of the same,” Smith said during an interview, on the merger dynamics across the industry. “But it is picking up. So, I do expect that we’ll see more total mergers for 2024 than we saw in 2023.”
In 2023, Fairfax tallied 48 total law firm mergers, including five “large-firm” mergers (i.e., combinations between firms with 100+ lawyers each). With nearly half of last year’s total merger count being completed in the first quarter, it looks like 2024 merger activity will indeed be up.
Which firms have the urge to merge? We know that the A&O Shearman deal will be official in May, and Dentons is set to combine with yet another firm sometime soon. If you know of any other high-profile merger that may be underway, please don’t hesitate to let us know via email or text us at (646) 820-8477. Thanks.
With High Interest in Law Firm Acquisitions, ‘A Likely Uptick’ in Mergers Underway [American Lawyer]
Staci Zaretsky is a senior editor at Above the Law, where she’s worked since 2011. She’d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on X/Twitter and Threads or connect with her on LinkedIn.
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