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12 ¦ MARCH 23, 2020 NEWS

¦ From IT’S A FULL STOP on PAGE 11 The legal industry’s fortunes typically mirror
Big Law has transitioned to having its thousands the larger economy, but the effects come later.
of lawyers and professional staff work remotely in an Fairfax Associates, which tracks when law merg-
effort to stop the virus from spreading and infecting ers are completed, didn’t see a drop in mergers in
others, and that has put a dampener on activities that 2008 and 2009, when the Great Recession was in
require face-to-face contact. That includes mergers. full swing.
“From what we’ve seen, most of the discussions That’s because those merger discussions occurred
that were happening have had to be put on hold. A in the months and years beforehand. The dip in law
lot of it does rely on face-to-face meetings,” Smith firm mergers didn’t become apparent to Fairfax until
said. “For good reason, firms are 2010, Smith said. Under the same
very much focused on business logic, any potential effects the
continuity and operating their COVID-19 pandemic has on law
firms successfully. The ability firm mergers won’t show up until
to have the bandwidth to look 2021, she added.
at merger discussions as well as Law firms are still interested So far, 17 law firm mergers have
manage a business effectively just in merging, but the inability
isn’t there.” been announced in 2020, accord-
to meet face-to-face and ing to Altman Weil’s MergerLine.
Clay was a little more color- trying to navigate these But that activity has slowed since

ful: “It’s hard to drain the swamp uncharted waters appears to the end of February—the only
when you’re up to your ass in al- have ground some merger law firm combination announced
ligators. That’s what this is.” discussions to a halt. in March was the tie-up of two
But Zimmermann noted that small New York firms.
some of the merger work can be It’s still too early to assess the
done remotely. full economic damage being
Already one merger appears to wrought by the pandemic, al-
have been affected—Troutman Sanders and Pepper though certain practice groups—like bankruptcy,
Hamilton announced Tuesday that, as a result of the restructuring and litigation—might see a boost,
international outbreak of the coronavirus, they were these consultants said. Remote-work capabilities are
postponing their merger by three months, from allowing firms to have their employees work from
April 1 to July 1. home, so they’re still billing hours, Smith noted.
Clay noted that the first six months of a merged “Unlike businesses that are heavily people-based,
firm’s tenure determines whether the merger will a lot of law firm work can continue,” she said.
work or not. Troutman Sanders and Pepper Ham- Zimmermann noted that the pending economic
ilton can’t merge and then not have their combined recession could give firms the cover they need to
teams meet in person until weeks or months later, jettison certain underperforming partners, practice
he added. groups and offices.
“They don’t want to miss the boat and not do all “Firms have an opportunity to take stock and use
the things you want to do, which is get people to- the cover they’ve been given to make their firms
gether,” Clay said. more resilient, and take stock choices on what to
The pandemic has slowed the U.S. economy down, prioritize going forward—and what options should
with multiple states ordering the closure of every be on the table to get there,” Zimmermann said. ¦
restaurant and bar, and the U.S. government con-
sidering an economic stimulus package worth over I’m a reporter covering the business of law, with
$1 trillion. Slate and Politico this week reported that an emphasis on national and global law firms for
multiple states have seen sharp rises in unemploy- The American Lawyer, Law.com and other ALM
ment applications. publications.

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