• The merger creates a 250-lawyer firm spanning from D.C. to Massachusetts, with 16 offices in the Northeast.

• Both firms aim to better serve their growing middle-market clientele by scaling up their resources and geographic reach.

• The deal is part of a broader wave of high-profile law firm mergers launching this month to reshape the legal industry.

New York-based Harris Beach and Connecticut-based Murtha Cullina announced their merger to form Harris Beach Murtha, creating a 250-lawyer regional powerhouse. The new firm, with 16 offices across the Northeast, aims to cater to middle-market clients whose needs have become increasingly complex, according to Law.com.

“The needs of that middle-market clientele have changed dramatically,” said Andy Corea, managing partner of Murtha Cullina. “Even just in the past five years, the complexity of what they need, the challenges they face in running their businesses, have changed and we needed to be able to expand quickly and faster than you can do with ones, twos and small combinations to provide more geographic scope to meet their needs.”

Broader Reach, National Scope

• While its physical footprint is concentrated in the Northeast, Harris Beach Murtha’s cases span the U.S.

• The combination will enhance services across key practice areas, including energy, healthcare, compliance, data privacy, and investigations.

Chris Jagel, CEO of Harris Beach, emphasized the firm’s readiness to grow further. Immigration, compliance, investigations, data privacy and cybersecurity are also areas both Jagel and Corea identified as potential growth targets.

“Being on the same technology and having all of our systems integrated is going to take some time into 2025 but I would anticipate that we will continue to be looking for intelligent growth opportunities,” Jagel said. “And if Harris Beach Murtha signs a similarly situated firm that seems to make sense for us to combine with, I'm sure we'll explore that.”

Clients have responded positively, including Eversource Energy’s general counsel Greg Butler, who praised the merger as a “terrific” move.

A Wave of Consolidation

The Harris Beach-Murtha Cullina merger aligns with a larger trend of law firm consolidation in 2025, Reuters reports. The most notable include:

• Troutman Pepper Hamilton Sanders and Locke Lord combining to form Troutman Pepper Locke, with 1,600 attorneys in 35 offices.

• Womble Bond Dickinson, which has nearly 1,100 lawyers, and Phoenix-based, 220-lawyer Lewis Roca Rothgerber Christie merging under Womble’s name. 

• Taft Stettinius & Hollister combining with much smaller Denver-founded firm Sherman & Howard, and the combined firm will have more than 1,000 lawyers.

• Philadelphia-founded Ballard Spahr and Seattle-founded Lane Powell creating a firm with 750 lawyers in 18 U.S. offices, operating as Ballard Spahr.

According to Fairfax Associates, there were 41 completed law firm mergers in the first nine months of 2024. Analysts predict 2025 will see similar activity as firms respond to client demands for larger, more versatile teams.

Bruce MacEwen, a consultant at Adam Smith Esq., noted that companies are consolidating their preferred provider lists, prompting firms to grow strategically.

Expense pressures, including rising salaries and investments in generative AI, are also driving smaller and midsize firms to seek mergers as a fast-track to growth. Meanwhile, the most profitable firms are focusing on targeted hires and promotions rather than mergers, according to Citi’s Law Firm Group and Hildebrandt Consulting.