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Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Ind. Law - Sommer Barnard may merge with Cincinnati firm
Ted Evanoff of the Indianapolis Star reports today in a story that begins:
Partners at the Indianapolis law firm Sommer Barnard will vote today on merging their company into Taft Stettinius & Hollister of Cincinnati, two people knowledgeable about the deal confirmed Monday.A merger would unite nationally known Taft, a law firm that traces to the 1880s, with far-younger Sommer, a 100-attorney Indianapolis firm reputed to be a tenacious defense litigator.
Although a deal would bring a new rival into the Indianapolis legal business, it was not clear Monday how Taft might differentiate itself from the established law firms already in place. About 1,500 lawyers are associated with the metro area's dozen largest legal firms.
Law firms searching for higher revenue have been merging throughout the nation for more than a decade, a trend that experts say is not expected to catch on soon in Indianapolis for reasons peculiar to the legal business. Experts suggest a deal could help Taft gain clients in Indianapolis, which has one of the Midwest's strongest economies, and enhance the Ohio firm's corporate defense practice.
"Taft is known as what you might call a silk stocking firm, doing primarily corporate and defense work,'' said Indianapolis lawyer Irwin Levin, managing partner at Cohen & Malad. "I would say, just by reputation, the Sommer Barnard lawyers are known as being very innovative. It's not perceived as being a stuffy law firm. One can only wonder what the culture will be'' after a merger.
Posted by Marcia Oddi on April 29, 2008 09:24 AM
Posted to Indiana Law