Law Firms Orrick and Akin Gump End Merger Talks

The big law firm Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe has seen its share of merger discussions fizzle out in recent years. Add its talks with Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld to the list.
Less than a week after confirming that they were in preliminary discussions to merge, Orrick and Akin Gump released a joint statement Monday morning announcing that their brief flirtation has already petered out.  The decision to end their talks was described as a mutual one.

“The firms appreciated the opportunity to have the discussions, which confirmed their mutual respect for one another,” the statement said. “However, the firms have determined not to proceed.”
Last week, consultants who specialize in law-firm mergers described the fit between Orrick and Akin Gump as a good one, considering they did not overlap much in terms of offices or strong practice areas.  Together, the firms would have employed nearly 1,900 lawyers with combined revenues in excess of $1.5 billion.
But the breakdown in talks is not particularly surprising, given how delicate merger discussions between big law firms tend to be. As The American Lawyer has pointed out, Orrick is something of a model for aborted merger talks, with its unsuccessful deal with what was then Dewey Ballantine in 2007 standing out as the most notable example.