Day, Berry & Howard, and Pitney Hardin to merge operations

11/03/06

Day, Berry & Howard, and Pitney Hardin to merge operations

New Jersey's oldest and largest law firm, Pitney Hardin LLP, is finalizing plans to merge its operations with Connecticut-based Day, Berry & Howard LLP. The proposed merger, expected to be complete by January 2007, will create the new firm Day Pitney LLP . With attorney strength of 395, the new firm will have offices in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Boston, and Washington, D.C. Besides their respective lawyers, the two firms employ about 450 staff members including paralegals, administrative assistants, and office managers.

The new firm, Day Pitney, will offer clients deeper capabilities in such practice areas like litigation and corporate law, government investigations, labor and employment, employee benefits, trust and estates, international estate planning, energy law, and intellectual property prosecution and litigation.

The merger opportunity will also allow both the firms to expand into new geographical regions across the US. Day, Berry & Howard's strength in Boston, Connecticut, New York and Washington, D.C. will complement Pitney Hardin's status as a premier New Jersey and New York City law firm. For Day Berry, the merger brings not only a middle-Atlantic presence but also some key practice areas including labor union management, franchises, patent prosecution, and public M&A, whereas Pitney Hardin, is looking to serve its clients in a more efficient and productive manner through this merger.

Latham & Watkins goes for promotion of Associates to Partners
Latham & Watkins has embarked on an intra-firm partnership promotion program, wherein 26 associates in U.S., Europe, and Asia were promoted to partners. The announcement of promotions, which will take effect in January 2007, was followed by impressive financial figures registered by the firm that witnessed a 17 percent growth in the turnover to $1.41 billion during the last fiscal year. This development has allowed the firm to focus on its key practice areas and simultaneously ensure that uniformity is maintained across the firm.

The firm's U.S. offices witnessed the maximum amount of promotions, with five in New York, four in Los Angeles, three in Washington DC, two each in Orange County, Silicon Valley, San Francisco, and one in San Diego. Additionally, there were two promotions in Hong Kong and one each in Frankfurt, London, Paris, and Singapore. During the selection of the partners, the firm looked for a balance of experience and expertise each of its five key departments - corporate, finance, litigation, tax, and environment. Nearly 40 percent of the appointed partners specialize in corporate and finance law.