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By all accounts, these are tough times at Ruden McClosky. Defections, layoffs and office closures recently led the Florida-based firm to fall out of the National Law Journal’s ranking of the top 250 law firms in the United States when its head count fell to just over 100 lawyers.
However, talks of the firm’s imminent demise are off base, the firm’s brass told the Daily Business Review in a far-ranging interview.
“There’s no doubt that the firm has been having economic difficulties in this year uncommon to the history of the law firm,” Michael Krul, chair of Ruden’s corporate and finance department, told the Daily Business Review. “I believe the overwhelming majority of shareholders in the law firm are committed to staying with Ruden and continuing their practices with this firm.
“We’re not going away, we’re not falling apart.”
According to the report, several factors have played a role in Ruden McClosky’s downturn. They include the firm’s “nice guy” culture that included extending credit to clients that were unable to pay their legal bills; a failure to bring “the younger generation” of partners into the management fold; and, most importantly, the downturn of the real estate market and the firm’s slow response.
Firm officials said there are no plans for a possible merger pending.
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“Ruden is looking to acquire, not be acquired, if the right opportunity presented itself,” said Carl Schuster. “But we would not just merge into a firm – unequivocally no.”
Those steps do not include a merger, unless a firm wants to join Ruden, Schuster said.
