What does the proposed Bryan Cave tie-up offer for BLP, beyond a 'merge until you're mega' strategy?
October 19, 2017 at 06:30 AM
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By Jessica Seah
If a B+��firm merges with a B+ firm, it���s still a B+ firmBryan Cave���s London office lists 37 lawyers who mostly handle corporate matters, ranging from a banking practice to private wealth services. BLP���s private wealth planning group��is highly rated, but the firm's��largest and best-known practice is undeniably its real estate group, which accounts for more than a third��of the firm���s lawyers. A significant presence in Europe and the UK would potentially help Bryan Cave���s lawyers serve their domestic client base abroad. The firm���s roots are in St Louis, Missouri, where many of its large clients are headquartered, including agribusiness giant Monsanto, beverage behemoth Anheuser-Busch InBev, electric utility Emerson Electric and batteries manufacturer Energizer Holdings. "Bryan Cave has decades of experience representing clients on a global basis,��� said Aaron Williams, a St Louis-based legal recruiter. ���I see this potential merger as a positive for both firms and their clients. I do not see any downside to the merger, just a strengthening of service and��lawyer quality." However,��one former partner said he was sceptical that a merger with BLP would help the firm to be seen as higher quality. "Firms like Bryan Cave have a tendency to always merge with equals. So they tend to always get bigger and bigger,��� the former partner said. ���If a B-plus firm merges with a B-plus firm, it���s still a B-plus firm. The size doesn���t make it any better; it just gets bigger." Both Bryan Cave and BLP have��seen merger discussions with other firms run aground in recent years.��Bryan Cave���s talks��with now-defunct Dickstein Shapiro��ended in late 2015, as the bulk of the latter��struck a deal with Blank Rome. BLP and Greenberg Traurig��held tie-up talks��about a year and a half ago.��The failure of that merger��was partially attributed to different pay structures at each firm, with Greenberg operating under a 'black box' model and BLP using a modified lockstep structure. A Bryan Cave partner described the firm���s compensation system as ���very subjective", taking into account a number of types of credit. It also involves the firm���s practice economics group, which considers clients��� profitability and the total growth of a relationship, the partner said. On the financial side, the firms have broadly similar profits per partner, with BLP posting��PEP of ��630,000 for 2016-17 and Bryan Cave having a similar figure of $865,000 (��650,000) for 2016. On the innovation front, Bryan Cave���s technology push was largely started by former partner John Alber, who briefly left the firm in the 1980s to start and then sell a tech-based logistics firm. Alber helped structure the firm���s innovation initiative into a series of working groups that are focused on technology, the economics of law practice and an alternative staffing model. Since Alber retired more than a year ago, Kathryn DeBord has served as chief innovation officer, a role that last year saw her help��launch a consulting service called BCXponent��to help streamline law departments. The firm in 2011 won its first ILTA innovation award for its three-pronged approach to innovation. Bryan Cave won the top award again in 2014 for its Rosetta software, which converts lawyers' financial metrics into a narrative designed to help them practise more efficiently. One source said Bryan Cave's business would be better served by boosting its ���head start��� in innovation rather than growing via merger. ���Perhaps even move in the other direction on scale ��� becoming smaller and more focused, and achieving efficiency by technical sophistication rather than mere numbers,��� the source said. ���That's the real opportunity for a firm as creative as Bryan Cave." That will ultimately be up for the firm's partners to decide.
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