Key points:
- Law firm mergers increased 21% in the first half of 2025, totaling 35 deals.
- Herbert Smith Freehills’ acquisition of Kramer Levin was the largest Q2 merger.
- New York remains a merger hotspot amid intensified competition for legal talent.
Law firm mergers in the U.S. rose sharply in the first half of 2025, climbing 21% from the same period in 2024. According to data published by Fairfax Associates, 35 mergers were completed by the end of June, 12 of which closed in the second quarter.
The most prominent deal involved Herbert Smith Freehills acquiring New York-based Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel, a combination that created a transatlantic firm with over 2,600 lawyers. The firms reported 2,331 and 337 lawyers, respectively, in 2024 based on full-time equivalent numbers.
This merger underscores the increasing pressure on regional firms—particularly in New York—to compete with larger, more profitable national and global players. The city has been the epicenter of consolidation activity among Am Law 200 firms.
“Just in New York, with firms like Stroock, Shearman, Kramer Levin, and Schulte most recently, the common thread is that they had a gap on size and profitability grow really wide over time with competitors for talent,” said Kent Zimmermann of the Zeughauser Group. “A small number of departures led each of them to lose their independence.”
Another significant pending merger approved by both partnerships in June is between Schulte Roth & Zabel (363 lawyers) and McDermott Will & Emery, a national firm with over 1,000 attorneys and ranked 21st on the Am Law 100.
First-quarter activity also featured notable mergers of mid-sized firms: Troutman Pepper with Locke Lord; Womble Bond Dickinson with Lewis Roca; Ballard Spahr with Lane Powell; and Taft Stettinius & Hollister with Sherman & Howard.
Q2’s smaller mergers included Crowell & Moring’s acquisition of 24-lawyer Faber Daeufer & Itrato, and Saxton & Stump’s combination with Stock & Leader. Gunster continued its Florida expansion by acquiring boutique firm Katz Barron, while Fennemore Craig merged with Phoenix-based BurnsBarton.
The year’s activity signals that merger strategy is being driven less by opportunistic expansion and more by a growing imperative to scale and enhance profitability in the face of lateral talent wars and firm vulnerability.
