McKenna Long & Aldridge LLP: Another Possible Merger Fails

Two senior Dentons partners told Law Blog on Tuesday afternoon that a proposed tie-up between that firm and U.S. law firm McKenna Long & Aldridge LLP is off. While the executive boards of both of the firms had recommended to their partners that the firms combine, McKenna which was founded in 1934, (1974 Long) was not able to assemble enough votes to approve the deal, according to some of those partners.

According to The Wall Street Journal the objectors included a group of “prominent, high-profile practitioners who didn’t believe at the end of the day that it was the culture of their firm” to merge, one of the two senior Dentons partners said. “They simply tried to engage in fear about globalization, fear about loss of brand.”

A spokeswoman for McKenna Long, whose largest office is in Atlanta, GA said on Tuesday afternoon, “We are not in a position to successfully bring our firms together at this time.” The partnership of McKenna Long & Aldridge just rejected the proposed tie-up with Dentons.

The news comes not 24 hours after word that merger talks between law firms Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP and Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP had fallen apart. The objectors included a group of “prominent, high-profile practitioners who didn’t believe at the end of the day that it was the culture of their firm” to merge. The proposed tie-up between that firm and U.S. law firm McKenna Long & Aldridge LLP is off. Even though the executive boards of both firms had recommended to their partners that the firms combine. More than 99% of Dentons’s approximately 900 partners approved the deal. About 75% of McKenna’s partnership also supported the merger.

“We look forward to maintaining the many friendships and working relationships, including with shared clients, that partners in both firms have forged.” A spokeswoman for McKenna Long said on Tuesday.

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