Philadelphia Firms May Be Ripe for Mergers

While larger Philadelphia firms attempt to create various identities -- whether they be national, regional, super-regional or global -- one fact remains: There are few out-of-town national firms with offices in the City of Brotherly Love. There is a bit of a debate around the legal community as to whether that is about to change, not through new office openings but through big-name mergers. … "To some extent Philadelphia has been, over the years, in the shadow of New York or Washington, D.C.," Drinker Biddle & Reath managing partner Andrew C. Kassner said. "But that may not be the case for much longer." … Kassner said that while Philadelphia firms may not be the first on the list of merger prospects, they could eventually move up. "As consolidation is completed in major markets like New York, Washington, D.C., and maybe Chicago, I think national firms might look to other major markets," including Philadelphia, he said. … Kassner questioned whether national firms would manage practice areas in markets with varying rate structures and be able to maintain their profitability. … Kassner said Drinker Biddle would never merge simply to get bigger, but added that strategic growth is important. "Given the legal market today, firms throughout the country are always talking to each other, and we're no different," he said. ...