A combined Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld and Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe — should the firms actually pull off a merger — might look something like this.
The two firms, which have their roots in Texas, California and Washington, D.C., would emerge with a decidedly New York accent. Provided no one jumped ship (or was pushed overboard), Akin-Orrick would have 375 lawyers in the Big Apple, the biggest office at the firm and one of the 20 largest in the city. And many of the lawyers there would be in high-earning practices like private equity, financial markets restructuring, commercial litigation and other corporate practices. “In New York, the combination would build on both firms’ strengths in that city: Akin’s private equity practice and Orrick’s capital markets practice. It could be very powerful,” said Kent Zimmerman, a Zeughauser Group consultant.
