Recent law firm mergers have significantly under-delivered on the anticipated benefits, both to the firms involved and their clients, claims a new report by management consultancy Gulland Padfield. 

Based on an analysis of recent international and UK law firm mergers, the report emphasizes the importance of the merging firms having an established business strategy which is well communicated to their partnerships before merger talks, as well as the need to put delivery of ‘value to the clients’ at the heart of the post-merger integration phase, if the merger is to be successful. 

The report lists the various reasons why mergers fail to deliver benefits to clients. Among the reasons are the lack of a plan to deliver value to client relationships; firm differences in operational aspects, such as integration of operational activities, client strategy, and firm culture; lack of a compelling and shared long-term vision for the future; and poor alignment of the firms’ approach to client strategy. 

The report offers a model for protecting ‘partnership value’ during and after the merger, a framework for shaping how the merged firm can be institutionally client focused, and practical guidance about each key workstream, in particular the client strategy workstream in the post- merger integration process. 

To contact the editor of this story, please email ranajit.dam@thomsonreuters.com