The BLT: The Blog of Legal Times

Breaux Lott, Patton Boggs Both Making More Money

Patton Boggs and the Breaux Lott Leadership Group are both posting increased lobbying revenue so far in 2010, an early hint at the trajectory of the combining firms' profits. Patton Boggs finalized its acquisition of Breaux Lott on July 1, but the two firms reported lobbying revenue separately in the first half of the year.

So far this year, Patton Boggs is reporting $20.6 million in revenue under the Lobbying Disclosure Act. That's an increase of almost 11% over the same period in 2009, when the firm reported $18.6 million.

Breaux Lott is reporting more than $6.4 million so far this year. That's an increase of more than 26% over the $5.1 million the firm reported in the same period last year. The firm's most lucrative clients include General Electric and AT&T, which each paid $300,000 for lobbying so far this year,

The two firms are still registered separately to represent clients, though Patton Boggs managing partner Stuart Pape said he believes most Breaux Lott clients will be switched over to Patton Boggs during the third quarter.

The combination of the two means one of K Street's largest firms is merging with one of the fastest-growing. Patton Boggs was number two on this year's Influence 50 list, reporting $78.1 million in lobbying revenue in 2009, a drop of 10.5% from 2008. The revenue totals include fees for work under the Foreign Agents Registration Act, among other things. Breaux Lott was number 32 on the survey and reported $11.2 million in revenue for 2009, a jump of more than 36% over 2008.

Auction of Hogan & Hartson Souvenirs Raises $16,000 for Charity

The name Hogan & Hartson may be gone, but it won't soon be forgotten. As one of the last acts that Hogan performed before the May 1 launch of Hogan Lovells, the firm auctioned off memorabilia with the Hogan & Hartson logo to lawyers and staff members around the world.

The results of the April 29 auction are in, and it appears Hogan raised $16,000, all of which was donated to the D.C. Bar Foundation. The foundation, which supports Washington legal services non-profits with grants, training and technical assistance, will use the funds to support June 2010 grants to the city’s legal services providers.

J. Warren Gorrell Jr., who was chairman of Hogan & Hartson until May 1 when he became co-chief executive officer of Hogan Lovells, said he was pleased with the amount raised by the auction. “The items that were auctioned off had little intrinsic value, so really everything went to charity,” Gorrell said.

Gorrell said the auction, which was held in the firm’s Washington office, was open to all of Hogan's lawyers and staff members. Phone lines were set up so Hogan & Hartson lawyers around the world could participate. “We had something for everyone,” said Gorrell, who bought the Hogan & Hartson sign outside the firm’s F Street office in Washington.

Mark Smith, D.C. Bar Foundation president, said that the funds will be put to use immediately because legal service providers are facing a funding gap in the wake of the recession. “It is fitting that the name of Hogan & Hartson leaves our community in a manner utterly in keeping with its history and reputation: unabashedly supporting legal services to the poor,” Smith said.

Akin Gump Picks Up Hogan's Geneva Office

Updated 12:00 p.m.

Hogan & Hartson's seven-lawyer Geneva office will join Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld after Hogan's merger with UK-based Lovells goes live May 1.

The lawyers joining Akin are partners Charles Adams Jr., Jonathan Ivinson and Michael Stepek, and associates Matthew Bate, Oliver Ciric, Vanessa Liborio, and Matthew Parish. Adams will continue to serve as managing partner of the office.

Adams’ practice focuses on international disputes involving major infrastructure construction projects, joint ventures, insurance coverage, manufacturing, telecommunications and transportation.

Ivinson gears his practice toward international and domestic tax issues, with an emphasis on tax-efficient cross-border financing structures

Stepek advises clients on international arbitration, international public and private law, and trade matters,

In a statement Adams said, “We are excited to be part of Akin Gump’s international expansion efforts. We look forward to bringing our capabilities and standards to bear in international arbitration, international tax planning, and Swiss corporate and commercial law to benefit the firm’s world-class client base.”

The loss of the Geneva office means that Hogan Lovells will not have a presence in the city. Lovells doesn’t have a Geneva office.

The move also marks the latest group to leave in Europe from the Hogan side of the coming merger. To date, Hogan has shed a total of 85 lawyers from its offices in Berlin, Warsaw, and now Geneva.

The total number of lawyers who have left or will be leaving ahead of the merger is now at least 109, including 38 partners. (Read more about the departures from Hogan and Lovells here.)

Update: In an interview, Akin chairman R. Bruce McLean said acquiring the team from Hogan wasn't so much about getting a foothold in Geneva as it was about adding to its international arbitration practice.

"This wasn't about the geography of where the office was based, though Geneva is a good place to have lawyers who handle private equity issues as well as international arbitration. There were advantages to the geography and no disadvantages, so it seemed like a perfect fit," McLean said.

McLean said he did not know whether client conflicts prompted the Geneva team to look for opportunities outside of Hogan Lovells. "We were more focused on how well they would fit at Akin Gump," McLean said. "For us, this is a big deal. We're very excited about it."

Lovells to Shutter Chicago Office Before Hogan Merger

Lovells is beginning the process of closing down its Chicago office ahead of the firm's May 1 merger with Hogan & Hartson. The decision, which still has to be approved by Lovells' partners, was made by the management team of Lovells, though Hogan & Hartson has been informed of it.

In a statement today, Lovells managing partner David Harris said the decision to shut down the office came after reviewing the seven-partner office's finances.

“This is an area which has seen changes in work patterns and the office has been affected by a number of significant conflict situations,” Harris said. “Despite the best efforts of partners in Chicago and elsewhere, this has had an impact on the office's overall performance in recent years and the position is not expected to change.”

The closure is scheduled to be completed by Oct. 31.

For Hogan, which does not have a Chicago office, closing the office means the firm will not add a presence in the Windy City when it merges with Lovells. That said, according to Lovells Web site, the merger will add about 45 lawyers to Hogan's New York office.

The loss of the Chicago office is the latest in a series of departures from both firms as the merger deadline looms nearer.

In January, three counsel and of counsel left Lovells' New York office for Robins, Kaplan, Miller & Ciresi, citing conflicts. Hogan's Warsaw office also opted out of the Hogan-Lovells merger when it joined K&L Gates earlier this month. And last week, news broke that 18 partners left Hogan's Berlin office to start their own firm, Raue, instead of joining the megafirm.

Hogan Lovells Names International Management Committee Members

Hogan & Hartson and Lovells have named the lawyers who will serve on the 15-lawyer international management committee when the two firms merge in May.

The committee will be responsible for Hogan Lovells' strategy decisions, including client and business development, financial and other operational affairs, development and implementation of firm policies, practice management and expansion, and regional management and expansion. The committee will also make recommendations to the recently announced board of the firm. (The NLJ listed members of that board here.)

Hogan chairman J. Warren Gorrell Jr. and Lovells managing partner David Harris, who will serve as co-CEOs of the combined firm, will lead the committee. The committee includes five members who will serve as regional managing partners for Washington, London, continental Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. The other 10 members include eight practice heads and Hogan Lovells' joint finance heads.

Hogan Northern Virginia managing partner Emily Yinger will manage Washington, and Hogan's Dennis Tracey III, a commercial litigation partner based in New York, will be managing partner for the Americas. From the Lovells side, Andrew Gamble, Christoph Kuppers and Crispin Rapinet will continue to in their positions as leaders of the London, continental Europe, and the Middle East regions respectively.

Hogan's managing partner for finance Prentiss Feagles, who also serves as co-director of its tax practice, and Lovells' CFO Richard Olver will become the combined firm's finance co-heads.

The other members are Stuart Stein and Andrew Skipper, who will serve as head of Hogan Lovells' corporate practice group; Steve Immelt and Patrick Sherrington:, who will lead the litigation, arbitration and employment practice group; Benton Hammond and David Hudd: who will lead the finance practice group; Andreas von Falck, who will lead the intellectual property practice; and Jeanne Archibald, who will chair Hogan Lovells' government regulatory practice group.

The members of the international management committee will serve a three-year term.

Hogan Lovells Assembles Board

Hogan & Hartson and Lovells firm leaders assembling the board that will oversee the merged Hogan Lovells had a lot of factors to take into account.

The two firms released the names of the lawyers who will sit on the 12-member board today. The merger takes effect May 1.

Marc Gottridge, Lovells' U.S. regional managing partner, said that the management committees of both Hogan and Lovells nominated six senior lawyers apiece based on their geographic location, practice area, and the role they have played in management positions at their respective firms.

"The goal was to assemble a 12-member that reflects the strengths of both Hogan & Hartson and Lovells," said Gottridge, who will be a board member.

The board will be responsible for strategy, management, and operating decisions. Specifically, the board will be tasked with making decisions on lateral partner hiring, associate and counsel promotions, promotions of non-equity partners to the full partnership ranks, and salary issues. Board members will also weigh in on issues facing the firm’s internal management committee and its co-CEOs, J. Warren Gorrell Jr., who is currently the chairman of Hogan & Hartson, and David Harris, Lovells’ managing partner. Gorrell and Harris will be board members.

The list of board members includes some familiar names, and several lawyers from both firms, including Gottridge, who hit the road in November to sell the idea of a merger to the partnerships of both Hogan and Lovells.

Joining the board from Hogan are: Claudette Christian, who currently serves on Hogan’s executive committee and is its chief diversity officer; David Dunn, administrative partner of the New York office; Gernod Meinel, managing partner of the German offices; Michael Silver, co-chair of the firm’s corporate, securities and finance practice group; and Jun Wei, co-managing partner of Hogan's greater China.

Along with Gottridge and Harris, the Lovells contingent of board members will include José Maria Balañá , managing partner of the Madrid office; Nicholas Cheffings, chair of the real estate disputes group; Andreas Meyer, a Hamburg, Germany-based partner; and John Young, the firm’s senior partner.

Christian and Young will also serve as co-chairs of Hogan Lovells and will oversee all internal operations.

As the deadline for fully integrating the two firms approaches, Gottridge said the management of both firms are "spending an awful lot of time" making the union run as smoothly as possible.

"Right now, it's more like what doesn't the integration entail," Gottridge said. "We're thinking about things like information technology issues and business development matters. There's a lot to consider."

Hogan and Lovells Partners Approve Merger

BY JEFF JEFFREY AND CARRIE LEVINE

Partners at Hogan & Hartson and Lovells signed off on their megamerger in separate votes that ended at midnight on Monday. The move is one of the last big hurdles before the two firms officially set up shop, which is planned for May 1.

In spite of the vote, the two firms still have several issues to work out, including client conflicts, leadership details, and overlapping offices and practice areas. If successful, the merged firm will be called Hogan Lovells and with about 2,500 lawyers and roughly $1.9 billion in revenue will be just over the size of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom and Jones Day.

“We’re really excited. It’s not often that I get to drink Dom Pérignon at 7:30 in the morning, but this is a great day for us,” Hogan’s chairman J. Warren Gorrell Jr. said today. “There is a lot of work ahead of us to put it together and make it work, but everybody at both firms is up for it.” Gorrell would not say how many votes there were for or against the deal, but said the vote showed “overwhelming support.”

Voting on Merger Has Begun at Hogan & Hartson and Lovells

The partnerships of Hogan & Hartson and Lovells have begun voting on whether to approve a combination of the two firms, according to Legal Week. The voting kicked off last week.

Legal Week reports that Lovells needs approval from 75 percent of the partnership in order for the deal to move forward. Voting at Lovells closes on Tuesday, Dec. 15.

Hogan needs two-thirds of its partners to approve the merger for it to go through. The U.S. firm will vote on the merger on Monday, Dec. 14, when the firm has scheduled a meeting to hold an official vote. Hogan chairman J. Warren Gorrell Jr. declined to comment on the vote.

The merger of equals, which would be called Hogan Lovells, would have headquarters in both Washington and London. As previously reported, Hogan Lovells would maintain separate profit pools with a combined pool for bonuses. The combined firm would align compensation structures on both sides of the Atlantic.

See the full Legal Week story here.

Details Leak on Hogan Lovells Structure

Updated (6:08 p.m.)

We already knew Hogan & Hartson and Lovells intended to merge their names into Hogan Lovells if the proposed combination is approved by the two firms' partnerships, but Legal Week has more details on the proposed merger. According to Legal Week, Hogan Lovells would have two partnerships and two profit pools.

Lovells' U.S.-based partners would join Hogan's partnership, and Lovells would take on Hogan's international partners.

Hogan Lovells would, however, bring the compensation structures of the two firms into closer alignment, with Lovells implementing a structure similar to Hogan's merit-based model for partner pay. Legal Week reports that 85 percent of Lovells’ profits for equity partners would be allocated on a point-based system.

The changes to Lovells’ pay structure, Legal Week reports, would mark the latest step taken by the firm to move away from the lockstep approach traditionally used by U.K.-based firms. Lovells has already made significant changes to its lockstep structure, rewarding revenue contributions over seniority. There are also expected to be some minor adjustments to Hogan's current pay model.

Read the full Legal Week story here.

And It Shall Be Called. . .

Legal Week is reporting that if approved by the partnerships at both firms, the firm produced by the union of Hogan & Hartson and Lovells will be called Hogan Lovells. The combined firm will drop the name of the late Nelson Hartson, a former IRS attorney who joined the firm founded by Frank Hogan in 1925.

A partner vote at both firms is expected to be held next month.

Legal Week also reports that Hogan Lovells will have two operational centers in London and Washington. Lovells managing partner David Harris and Hogan chairman J. Warren Gorrell Jr. will lead the combined firm. Lovells will also implement performance-related bonus for Lovells partners -- a move that has been under consideration since before the merger talks.

The Am Law Daily has more on the history of Hogan & Hartson here.