November 18, 2014
THE DAILY JOURNAL
By Melanie Brisbon
The majority of Bingham McCutchen LLP’s partners in California have been admitted to Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP as part of its historic absorption of 227 partners from the Boston-based firm, according to several sources.
Bingham’s website currently lists more than 50 partners in five California offices. Though Morgan Lewis has yet to disclose which partners it has voted to let in, few in the state are expected to be left behind, according to the sources, who requested anonymity because the details of the deal have yet to be made public.
Bingham has struggled over the past year, both in terms of its financials and attorney exits. After many years of rapid expansion, the firm reported a 12 percent dip in revenues in 2013 followed by key partner departures in California, Washington, D.C. and New York.
As merger discussions intensified in the past few months, Bingham continued to see a slow trickle of departures in the state. Intellectual property litigators Sasha G. Rao and Brandon H. Stroy joined the new West Coast office of Alabama law firm Maynard Cooper & Gale PC, while commercial litigators Edward S. Kim and Peter N. Villar jumped to Troutman Sanders LLP in Orange County. John D. Pernick, another former Bingham litigator, joined Bergeson LLP as of counsel.
Morgan Lewis’ absorption of hundreds of Bingham partners is a move reminiscent of the firm’s picking up about 150 lawyers from Brobeck, Phleger & Harrison a decade earlier – also after months of merger discussions.
“The [Bingham] merger will require proper integration to make it a successful venture. Jami McKeon who has now assumed the firm chair role at Morgan was key and instrumental in Morgan’s acquisition of Brobeck lawyers shortly before their demise,” Larry Watanabe, legal consultant at Watanabe Nason LLP, said in an email. “McKeon ensured the integration was a success and the retention rate of those lawyers remains one of the highest in many years for an acquisitions of its type.”