• Law firm mergers continue to surge as firms look to increase scale, expand geographically, and broaden practice areas.

• The Ballard Spahr and Lane Powell merger will combine over 750 lawyers, enhancing both firms' national reach and client offerings.

• This trend follows other major mergers, including Troutman Pepper Hamilton Sanders and Locke Lord, and Womble Bond Dickinson and Lewis Roca Rothgerber Christie.

U.S. law firms are increasingly turning to mergers to strengthen their market positions, with the latest merger between Philadelphia-founded Ballard Spahr and Seattle-founded Lane Powell demonstrating the growing appeal of this strategy, according to a Reuters report.

Details of the Merger

• The combined firm will feature a 750-lawyer firm under the Ballard Spahr name effective Jan. 1. Ballard Spahr, the larger of the two firms, currently has more than 600 lawyers in 15 U.S. offices.

• Ballard Spahr generated more than $484 million in total revenue in 2023, according to figures released by the American Lawyer. The merger would add roughly $100 million in revenue, given that Lane Powell’s revenue was estimated at $102 million in 2022, according to the same figures.

• The combination will allow Ballard Spahr to grow in a new geographic region, which can help attract new clients, according to the firm’s chair, Peter Michaud. Ballard Spahr will gain Lane Powell's three Pacific Northwest offices, in Seattle, Portland, Oregon, and Anchorage, Alaska. 

• The merger will give of Lane Powell an opportunity to expand outside of the Pacific Northwest and better serve clients with a larger footprint, said firm president Barbara Duffy.

Both firms have already held their partnership votes confirming the merger, and the vote was unanimously in favor, according to a Law.com report.

Part of a Broader Trend

This deal follows in the wake of other high-profile combinations:

• Troutman Pepper Hamilton Sanders and Locke Lord announced a merger that will launch in 2025, forming a firm of more than 1,600 attorneys and more than $1.5 billion in revenue combined.

• Womble Bond Dickinson (US) announced its merger with Lewis Roca Rothgerber Christie, creating a transatlantic firm with a substantial U.S. presence and broader international capabilities. The new firm, to be launched in 2025, will have more than 1,300 lawyers and a combined $742 million in revenue.

The Big Picture: The number of completed law firm mergers slightly picked up in the first half of 2024 compared to the prior year, according to data released by legal industry consultancy Fairfax Associates.

Why this matters: The moves dovetail with a trend in which firms have never been more keenly interested in adding scale in order to become more competitive with the top firms and ultimately join their ranks.