The largest deal involved 231-lawyer Detroit firm Clark Hill and Thorp Reed & Armstrong, an 82-lawyer firm based in Pittsburgh.

Detroit

‘US law firms continue to grow, primarily through targeted acquisitions,’ said Altman Weil principal Ward Bower. ‘Firms are picking up specialty practices, expanding in strong markets and adding offices in new cities.’
Detroit proved to be a popular area for mergers, with local firm Dickinson Wright also announcing the acquisition of 60-lawyer Phoenix firm Mariscal Weeks McIntyre & Friedlander in January.

New markets

‘It appears that Detroit-based firms are expanding opportunistically into new markets with greater potential,’ commented Mr Bower. ‘This is a strategy that has been employed successfully in the past by firms based in cities with limited local growth options, like Cleveland and Pittsburgh.’
The other 19 deals announced in January, February and March 2013 were acquisitions of small law firms with fewer than 25 lawyers.