arelene December 30, 2005 10:38 am

This is old news, I think, but sources tell me that the merger negotiations between Bryan Cave and Squire Sanders are progressing and are likely to result in a combination of the two firms.

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Gonzo the Mediocre January 03, 2006 07:01 am

Finally, SSD gets to expand into the hot St. Louis market. Adding the strong Kansas City presence was just the icing on the cake.

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arelene January 03, 2006 07:36 am

Well, the opportunities in Kansas City and

St. Louis may have been a factor, but the driving factor behind this move as I understand it is that SS&D's New York office has been a dismal failure since it opened in the mid-80's. This despite the fact that the managing partner supposedly is resident in the New York office. To hear the talk, the addition of Bryan Cave is intended to vault SS&D into the realm of highly respected silk stocking New York law firms - - just as they are the acknowledged market leader in high profile midwestern corporate lending work, west coast intellectual property litigation, Kazakh acquisitions, and Shanghai junk financing, they will no doubt displace the hold that the Skaddens of the world have on the high end merger and acquisition market.

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Gonzo the Mediocre January 03, 2006 07:57 am

Thanks, Arlene. I should have known better. OF COURSE Squire would merge with a St. Louis firm to improve their New York presence. How did I miss that obvious angle?

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arelene January 03, 2006 08:16 am

SSD is a very subtle place, ideal for the young associate who understands that it is far far better to be one of 800 and to have opportunities to live on the steppes of Asia, and therefore to be able to tell your midwestern clients that "I have lived on the Steppes of Asia and eaten dried yak with the mongol tribesman," than to have a run of the mill meat and potatoes Ohio-based corporate or litigation practice. I guess it's just lucky for Bryan Cave that they were able to find a firm with a sophisiticated and successful New York practice to upgrade their brand.

Just as the prospect of Sky Bank merging with Unizan makes Citgroup quake in its boots, so does a newly constituted Bryan Squire have the potential to shake up the stodgy legal status quo in NYC.

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StantonsCombOverissoFashionable January 03, 2006 11:13 am

I am sure they will have the lock on the St. Louis market now, and BC has great clients, just trying to think of a few.

Seriously, SSD has been so forward thinking in staying away from legal markets like London, Frankfurt, and has managed to have only a vestigial presence in NYC, while locking in those key markets like St. Louis. In some respects, trying to be a competitor in second-tier markets makes sense. If you can't play with the big boys, make sure you have those other markets locked up.

The addition of the NYC office of a Missouri firm will no doubt do wonders for their New York presence. Plus, the collegiality goes a long way. So what if Coudert decided "death before Squire," obviously BC has more thorough vision. Perhaps key meetings can now be held in St. Louis.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=334770&forum_id=2#4757949)

I hope half the WUSTL/CWRU class doesn't get offers after next summers...

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=334770&forum_id=2#4757981)

People from SLU and Cleveland St. don't get jobs, even in inane hypotheticals.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=334770&forum_id=2#4758096)

I think it's a quota system. For a class of 11, they do something along the lines of 3 WUSTL, 3 SLU, 3 Mizzou, and two from elsewhere. It's horseshit.

A legal writing instructer at Case who went to CSU came from SSD. She is venomous and shapes my opinion of SSD.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=334770&forum_id=2#4758128)