U.S. law firms Troutman Pepper Hamilton Sanders and Locke Lord said on Thursday that they have agreed to merge effective Jan. 1, creating a firm with more than 1,600 lawyers.
The combined firm will be named Troutman Pepper Locke. It will have 33 U.S. offices, in addition to offices in London and Brussels, according to a joint statement.
Tom Cole, chair of the larger firm Troutman Pepper, will chair the newly combined firm. Locke Lord chair David Taylor and Troutman Pepper vice chair Ashley Taylor will be vice chairs of the new firm.
The firms said their partners voted on Thursday to approve the merger.
They said they “share significant practice strengths in industries that are critical to the economy,” including energy, financial services, healthcare and life sciences, among others.
Troutman Pepper was born from a 2020 merger between Atlanta-founded Troutman Sanders and Philadelphia-founded Pepper Hamilton. The firm generated about $1.08 billion in gross revenue in 2023, according to figures published by the American Lawyer.
Locke Lord brought in about $497.6 million in revenue last year, according to the American Lawyer data. The firm has grown through a series of mergers over several years, most recently through a combination between Texas-based Locke Lord and Boston-based Edwards Wildman that was completed in 2015.
The two firms had said in April that they were in talks to merge.
The deal represents the largest law firm combination to emerge in 2024.
London-founded Allen & Overy and New York’s Shearman & Sterling completed a planned merger on May 1. The combined firm, A&O Shearman, has nearly 4,000 lawyers.
Source: Reuters.com