As merger interest in the legal industry runs rampant, several Big Law firms are in merger talks or in the process of integrating from a merger. Yet, many discussions have been halted due to differences over culture, financials, or leadership.
A look back at one of Big Law’s most famous mergers—the combination of Boston-founded Hale and Dorr with Washington, D.C.-founded Wilmer, Cutler & Pickering in 2004—provides some clues to firms currently in talks about navigating the merger process and what worked. With the merged firm, informally known as WilmerHale, now in its 20th anniversary, firm leaders spoke with Law.com about initial culture clashes but also how and why the firms successfully integrated. “The fact that we brought all these people into the loop in October and it never leaked until we made it public on May 31 said to me that it was going to work,” noted Bill Lee.
The full insights from the former leaders of Wilmer and Hale can be read here.