Overview | Mergers & Acquisitions

Most law firm Managing Partners tell us that they would like to be notified of potential law firm merger opportunities and interested parties that might make sense for their law firm, even though they may not be actively searching. One never knows when a great opportunity will arise and everyone fears the deal they wanted but didn’t know about until they read another firm’s press release. For those who want to be in the flow of expressions of interest at a high level, we offer the MergerCounsel Law Firm Merger Marketplace – a highly confidential, dynamic database of interested parties that our law firm merger consultants review bi-weekly for potential matches, based on each firm’s expressed interests.

Rules

1. Your information will be stored in a secure, local, password-protected database that is accessible to only our law firm merger consultants.
2. Your information will be used ONLY for the stated purpose – to allow us to monitor our marketplace for opportunities that may make sense for your firm.
3. There are no anticipated results or guaranteed outcomes, stated or implied, from your participation in our marketplace.  An introduction results only when the interests of two participants align but we cannot guarantee that this outcome will occur for any member, nor can we guarantee that any introduction will result in a merger.
4. If a new firm registers into our virtual marketplace and that firm’s interests align with those of multiple existing participants, we will notify all potential matches.  We will not play “favorites” or try to create any particular outcome.
5. If/when a potential match exists, no law firm is ever mentioned by name to any third party without the consent of appropriate contact at the firm. Initial notifications are based on high-level descriptions that include no firm-specific information.
6. There is no cost for registering into this virtual marketplace. If a match results from your participation, we will ask for a success fee that is commensurate with marketplace norms but the ultimate value of our services will be determined by the leaders of the involved law firms.
7. You may ask to have your information “scrubbed” from our database at any time.

Some law firm Managing Partners are actively searching for significant strategic growth opportunities and need to take a step beyond being opportunistic via LawVision’s Law Firm Merger Marketplace.

For these situations, we offer our MergerCounsel Tailored Law Firm Merger Search. In these engagements, our merger team will assist with the creation of a tailored target list that includes the firms in the Virtual Merger Marketplace but also goes far beyond that cohort.

Typical steps in this type of project include:

• Gaining a deep understanding of your goals with respect to M&A;
• Managing your expectations with respect to likely outcomes;
• Creating one, or a series of, target lists based on your search criteria and our knowledge of firms built over 3+ decades of consulting;
• Prioritizing candidates;
• Planning for the initial approach to each prioritized candidate;
• If appropriate, making the initial approach to each prioritized candidate – confidentially, if needed; and
• Coaching throughout the process, including how to handle the initial meetings.

Each law firm merger has myriad tricky issues to resolve during the development of “NewFirm” and the ability to call upon 3+ decades of experiences, precedents, and examples from prior law firm combinations can save time, money, and frustrations. Our law firm merger consultants can advise either side of a potential law firm combination or we can act for “NewFirm” and advise both parties on behalf of the proposed combination.

Typical sticking areas include law firm governance, law firm partner compensation, equalization of assets/liabilities coming into the deal (including capital accounts), and – now and then – coming to an agreement on the name of the combined law firm…to name a few.

Important: We will never endorse a law firm combination that we don’t fully support. During law firm merger negotiations, we will constantly test the underpinnings of the combination and honestly report our feelings to both parties. We are equally proud of the deals we stopped as we are of the deals we helped close.

Merger is not a strategy.

Merging law firms is a means to implement a strategy or a well-defined need.

Furthermore, if a law firm merger makes sense, you want your law firm to be as well-positioned as possible going into the process to both:

a) attract the right candidates, and

b) negotiate from your strongest position.

If any doubt exists in your mind, our law firm merger consultants can conduct a quick evaluation of your situation and make concrete recommendations with respect to next steps. Such recommendations may range from “proceed with haste” to an alternative that has nothing to do with M&A and focuses on creating a strong market position or handling internal issues that need to be addressed before an interested party is sitting across the table.

We will guide you toward the best long-term path forward for your law firm.

In many law firm merger negotiations, law firm post-merger integration is a vitally important step that is either left to the last minute or grossly under-planned with respect to the time needed for proper execution.

Our law firm merger consultants know when to plan and how to plan for post-merger law firm integration. Furthermore, the entirety of LawVision has the broadest collection of skills available from any law firm consultancy and our whole team is ready to roll up our sleeves and assist with post-merger law firm integration plan implementation.

To get started with any of these services or to discuss the concept of law firm mergers more broadly, we offer a complimentary consultation (up to 60 minutes) to answer your questions and determine what your next step should be.