The good economy seems to have been a catalyst in a flurry of law firm mergers that has brought a little of Boston to Providence and a little of Providence to Boston. So far this year many law firms have merged with firms from different regions of the country. Meanwhile the Boston-Providence connection of law firms has emerged. In Rhode Island. Edwards & Angell merged with Boston firm Dike, Bronstein, Roberts & Cushman; Tillinghast, Licht & Semenoff merged with Boston’s Perkins Smith & Cohen, becoming Tillinghast Licht Perkins Smith & Cohen; and Nixon Peabody merged with Sixbey Friedman Leedom & Ferguson of McLean, Virginia. Boston firm Lahive & Cockfield and national firm Holland & Knight also recently opened Providence offices.
Stephen Lichatin, managing partner of the Providence office for Nixon Peabody recently told Providence Business News the merger madness in the legal industry has to do with the good economy.
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”I think the economy has continued to be strong, and there seems to be an environment for merging,” he said.
Stu Freeman, director of administration for Edwards & Angell said he is pleased with his firm’s merger that took place in July with Dike, Bronstein, Roberts & Cushman, and that another merger is something they are always open to.
”The expertise has broadened dramatically,” he said. “They’re wonderful people, and they’re giving us business, and we’re giving them business.”
Freeman said Boston is the fastest growing area in Edwards & Angell’s business.
Neal McNamara, litigation partner for the firm Holland & Knight, said there are many advantages to having an office in Providence. The firm, which has 24 offices nationally, opened an office in Providence last October, and recently moved into larger quarters.
”It’s an excellent climate for the legal profession,” McNamara said of Providence, “because it’s between Boston and New York and a lot of the national firms don’t have offices here. We’re the only national firm here, and for a firm like us there are a lot of opportunities.”
McNamara said Holland & Knight is looking to merge soon.
”I can’t say anything yet, but there is one particular candidate where it looks like it’s going to go through,” he said.
Boston-based firm Lahive & Cockfield, which opened its Providence office at the beginning of this year, is also finding success in Rhode Island. Partner Peter Lauro said the firm, which exclusively handles intellectual property matters, had clients in Rhode Island prior to opening the office, and saw the increase of the high tech industry as an incentive to set up camp here.
”We’re able to provide service to existing Rhode Island clients,” he said, “and looking to build new clients. From our perspective there are a lot of opportunities here as hopefully technology will continue to build. And the purpose for us to open up an office here is to serve those clients.”
Lauro compared Rhode Island’s economy to the way it was at the beginning of the twentieth century, saying that if one goes back to the early 1900s, the state had the highest per capita income in the nation, and five of the largest industries in the world were headquartered here. Then when the great depression hit, Rhode Island never regained that foothold.
”Interestingly, a century later we’re on the same threshold,” he said, “and I really hope we can keep the momentum going.”
Jerry Cohen, chair of the science and technology group for Tillinghast Licht Perkins Smith & Cohen, said one of the reasons the Tillinghast merger has been so successful is technology, and that with the state’s continuing technological growth, the legal industry will continue to benefit.
”Phone systems and computer communications have helped us a great deal to make a multi-city firm operate as if it were one city,” he said. “The overall economy is growing, and Rhode Island needs legal services.”
Cohen also said he thinks the next step in this process of growth is for the national firms who have come into Boston and acquired small firms there will start looking to Providence for acquisition candidates, based on the firms from other regions that have succeeded here.
”Its potential hasn’t been fully realized,” he said, “and the models have shown up well.”
