Troutman Pepper, Locke Lord Partners Approve Big Law Merger

Partners at Troutman Pepper and Locke Lord this week voted in favor of the law firms merging, according to a joint statement Thursday.

The newly formed firm, which will be named Troutman Pepper Locke, is set to formally launch on Jan. 1, 2025. It will have more than 1,600 lawyers and a total of 35 offices in the US and Europe, according to the statement. The firms reported more than $1.5 billion in combined gross revenue last year, which would have landed them among the country’s 30 largest.

The tie-up provides Troutman, the larger of the two firms, entrance to the competitive Texas legal market, gaining Locke Lord’s offices in Austin, Dallas, and Houston. It offers Locke Lord much needed scale, tripling the firm’s attorney headcount after steady departures in the decade since its last combination.

Troutman Pepper’s chair and managing partner, Tom Cole and Amie Colby, will continue to hold the same titles at the combined firm. Troutman vice chair Ashley Taylor and Locke Lord chair David Taylor will serve as the combined firm’s vice chairs.

“The expanded footprint of Troutman Pepper Locke will allow us to offer a far deeper bench of attorneys to advise clients on complex transactional, litigation, and regulatory matters,” David Taylor noted. “In addition, our lawyers are aligned on core values with a commitment to innovation, inclusion, and pro bono service.”

News of the tie-up was first confirmed by the firms in April.

Neither firm is a stranger to growing through combinations, both having reached their current size through mergers over the last decade.

Troutman Pepper was created by a 2020 merger between Atlanta’s Troutman Sanders and Philadelphia’s Pepper Hamilton. The combined firm brought in $1.07 billion in revenue in 2023, according to figures by the American Lawyer.

Locke Lord was created through the 2007 merger of Texas-founded Locke Liddell & Sapp and Chicago-based Lord Bissell & Brook. In 2015, Locke Lord merged with Boston-found Edwards Wildman Palmer.

Partner approval of the merger on Thursday comes after months of negotiating deal terms and garnering support among the partners by leaders of the firms. It will be the second Big Law firm merger within 12 months to go into effect after Allen & Overy combined with Shearman & Sterling in May.

The firms have complementary practice areas in energy, financial services, and pharmaceuticals, while filling gaps in each other’s geographic footprint, said Atlanta-based legal recruiter Raj Nichani. Locke Lord will gain Troutman’s offices in Philadelphia and Orange County, California.

“Some of their practice areas are going to complement each other and their geographic footprint is going to be hard to beat,” Richani said. “The clients in oil and gas are going to be great for Troutman’s arsenal because they have a large footprint on the corporate side.”

Overlap in practice profiles has also posed potential conflicts involving clients at each firm with adverse relationships to one another. Clients in Locke Lord’s energy and affordable housing practices have sat on the other side of disputes and deals from Troutman’s financial services and energy clients, according to a review of public records.

At least three Locke Lord lawyers parted ways with the firm this year, citing uncertainty about whether they could continue to represent certain after the merger.

“Partner departures are a huge risk factor for firms,” said Kristin Stark, a consultant with Fairfax Associates. “When partners leave during merger talks and because of merger talks, it’s a signal to the partnership and other lawyers and staff that there’s something faulty in the conversation.

“There may be nothing wrong,” Stark said. “That’s why it’s so critical to build that business case and have a really strong plan to involve partners in the merger discussions.”