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Merger grows McGuireWoods
by Virginia
Business Staff
July 2003
One
of Virginia’s biggest law firms just got a lot
bigger. Richmond-based McGuireWoods has merged with
the Chicago law firm of Ross & Hardies, creating
a firm with about 725 lawyers. The new firm will keep
the McGuireWoods name, except in Chicago, where it will
be known as McGuireWoods Ross & Hardies.
The
merger gives the firm a much bigger presence in New
York and Chicago, two cities where both firms had offices
but Ross & Hardies had more lawyers. The Chicago
office now has 175 lawyers, up from 50 and second only
to the firm’s 200 lawyers in Richmond. The New
York office now has 45 lawyers, up from eight.
Mergers
have been common among law firms in recent years, according
to consultant Hildebrandt International. There have
been 25 mergers so far this year, compared to 53 for
2002.
Bigger
firms do get some savings by spreading overhead costs,
but that’s not what drove McGuireWoods’ merger,
says firm Chairman Robert L. Burrus Jr. “I’m
one who preaches against size, at least in terms of
numbers of lawyers,” he says. The Chicago and New
York offices were already the firm’s busiest and
the merger was largely a response to that demand, he
says.
McGuireWoods
has 14 offices in the U.S. It is the state’s second-largest
firm, with 316 lawyers in the state, behind Hunton &
Williams, with 370. The new firm has one of the biggest
human resources practices in the country. The merger
also increased its litigation practice to more than
200 lawyers and strengthened the corporate and health
care practices.
Virginia
Business - August 2003
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