ArentFox Schiff, one year into a merger that created the firm, has tripled the volume of work leaders predicted would result from the combination, chair Anthony Lupo said.
The firm now has bigger practice presences across tech, intellectual property and corporate. Intellectual property and patent practices have been hot, in addition to areas including consumer products and litigation, Lupo said.
“There are so many more areas that are needed now,” Lupo, 57, said in an interview. “We needed to get bigger. It’s just a much more complex legal paradigm than in the past.”
Rivals are validating the decision of Washington DC’s Arent Fox and Chicago’s Schiff Hardin to combine a year ago by taking that leap themselves. There have been at least three mergers of firms that each have at least 100 lawyers so far this year, compared with just two in all of 2022, according to Fairfax Associates.
The activity comes as the industry faces economic uncertainty triggered in part by rising interest rates and a slowdown in corporate deals work. Firms also face pressure from the most profitable shops that continue to fork over huge pay packages for the most sought-after attorneys, said Kent Zimmermann, a law firm management consultant at the Zeughauser Group.
ArentFox Schiff revenue grew last year compared to what the firms would have reported separately, Lupo said. He declined to give details, saying the...
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