The number of impending and possible mergers of major law firms announced during the past few months has, to say the least, been unusually high. Most astonishing of these is the proposed merger between New York’s Dewey Ballantine and San Francisco’s Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe. The two have been long-time members of The Am Law 100. Most recently, Orrick was ranked 35th by gross revenue, and Dewey ranked 58th. By size, Orrick ranked 26th in the most recent NLJ 250 report (November 2006), with 924 lawyers, and Dewey ranked 70th, with 544 lawyers. The merger would result in the “mega firm” of Dewey Orrick LLP, with approximately $1billion in annual revenues. If you’ve missed our blog bulletins about recent mergers, read on.

This edition of the newsletter also examines how pro bono was reported this year. We also explore how to find information about law firm office locations in the ALM Research Online database, and give you the “Inside Info” about ALM’s Director of Reprints and Permissions, Syndia Torres.

If you’ve missed our blog bulletins about recent mergers, you may have read some of the reports in ALM publications – for instance, the impending merger of Hartford-based Day, Berry & Howard and New Jersey-based Pitney Hardin. The merger is expected to be completed by January 1, 2007, and the combined firm will be known as Day Pitney and have roughly 400 lawyers in nine offices in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Boston and Washington, D.C. In September, we reported [ link to blog item ] that the already-much-merged 400-lawyer Pittsburgh-based Kirkpatrick & Lockhart Nicholson Graham had entered into a merger bid with 400-lawyer Seattle firm Preston Gates & Ellis. Their tie-up would create a 1,400-lawyer firm with 21 offices, according to the reports.

The exploration of a merger partner and assessing the impact of a merger on your own firm or on the market generally, are just a couple of reasons why law firm business professionals turn to ALM Research Online. Law firm metrics and other valuable information can be found and tracked by using the ALM Research database search and analytical tools, our law firm business reports, and individual lists and rankings. (Law Firm business reports and individual lists and rankings are included in our subscription packages and are available for purchase by non-subscribers.)