"Squire Sanders has deep, deep roots here in Cleveland, and has worked hard not to forget those roots," Michael Ungar said. "It's a really good thing for Cleveland to have firms like Squire Sanders, Jones Day and BakerHostetler known for their very strong legal teams."
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Cleveland megafirm Squire Sanders' proposed merger with Patton Boggs, a Washington, D.C., lobbying powerhouse, will likely raise the profile of Cleveland's legal community as well, prominent local attorneys say.
The combined law firm, to be known as Squire Patton Boggs, will mesh together Squire Sanders' global reach with Patton Boggs' public policy, white collar and other practices into one of the 25 largest law firms in the world in terms of lawyers. The deal, approved by partners of both firms last Friday, is expected to close by Sunday.
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View full sizeMichael Ungar, partner at Ulmer Berne LLP Squire Patton Boggs will employ about 1,600 lawyers in 45 offices in 21 countries and provide "unparalleled geographic reach, breadth and depth of practice capabilities and unmatched knowledge in matters where law, government and business intersect," according to a written announcement.
But here in Cleveland, where Squire Sanders was founded in 1890 and where it has always ranked as one of the largest law firms in terms of size and reach, some local lawyers say the deal could bring welcome exposure for the legal community. Especially since Patton Boggs doesn't have any Ohio attorneys.
Michael Borden, an associate professor of law at Cleveland-Marshall College of Law at Cleveland State University who teaches classes on mergers and acquisitions, said, "Squire Sanders should gain considerably among their established domestic and international clientele by adding a preeminent governmental relations practice to its already thriving global practice."
"This merger is likely to increase the firm's profitability with its pre-existing business and also enhance its capacity to attract new business. Although there is some concern about declining revenues at Patton Boggs, this deal looks promising for Squire Sanders and also, by extension, for Cleveland itself," he added.
Michael Ungar, a partner at Ulmer Berne LLP and a former president of the Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association, said Squire Sanders' most valuable asset is "the people who ride their elevators every day," and that the firm should do everything in its power to protect it.
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View full sizeFrederick Nance, regional managing partner of Squire Sanders He said the firm has a well-earned and well-deserved reputation for "contributing enormously to the whole culture of our profession here in Northeast Ohio," from David Goodman, managing partner of the Cleveland office, to Fred Nance, attorney to Northeast Ohio athletes, to Robin G. Weaver, former president of the Cleveland Bar Association.
"Squire Sanders has deep, deep roots here in Cleveland, and has worked hard not to forget those roots," Ungar said. "It's a really good thing for Cleveland to have firms like Squire Sanders, Jones Day and BakerHostetler known for their very strong legal teams."
Craig M. Boise, dean and law professor of Cleveland-Marshall College of Law at Cleveland State University, called the Squire Sanders-Patton Boggs deal the largest legal merger so far this year in an industry that has seen more and more mergers.
In a profession where law firms want to grow and become more profitable, mergers are one of the fastest ways to do both, he said. A self-reported metric called "profits per partner seems to have become a measure of a law firm's health and strength," and both Squire Sanders and Patton Boggs rank among the top 100 U.S. law firms for profits per partner, he said.
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View full sizeCraig Boise, dean of Cleveland-Marshall College of Law at Cleveland State UniversityBoise said another concern is that after the merger, Cleveland will go from being Squire Sanders' largest U.S. office to its second largest, after Washington, D.C.
"I think it's a shifting of the center of gravity away from Cleveland," he said. "The same thing happened at Jones Day when it named a managing partner [based] in D.C. The firm is still here, but the center of gravity has shifted."
"Ideally, what would happen [after Squire Sanders' merger] is that they would realize it's less expensive to do work here in Cleveland than in D.C., and shift more work here," Boise said. "That would be great," and could potentially mean jobs for students graduating from Cleveland-Marshall College of Law.
David S. Goodman, a Cleveland native and managing partner of Squire Sanders' Cleveland office, said: "This isn't a case where their expertise diminishes our presence locally."
"Many of the strengths that Patton Boggs brings to the combined firm are areas that contribute to the firm nicely." He said the merger will likely end up increasing the size of and opportunities in the Cleveland office.