Squire Patton Boggs

Squire Patton Boggs
Headquarters Key Tower
Cleveland
United States
No. of offices 44 (June 2014)
No. of attorneys Approx. 1350+ (March 2015)[1]
Key people Mark J. Ruehlmann (Chairman and Global CEO)
Revenue $870.5 million (2014)[2]
Profit per equity partner $840,000 (2014)[3]
Date founded 1890 in Cleveland as Squire, Sanders & Dempsey
1887 in Leeds as Hammond Suddard
1962 in Washington D.C. as Patton Boggs
Company type Swiss Verein
Website
www.squirepattonboggs.com

Squire Patton Boggs is an international legal practice with 44 offices in 21 countries. It was formed in 2014 by the merger of multinational law firm Squire Sanders with Washington, D.C. based Patton Boggs. It is one of the 25 largest law firms in the world by total headcount and one of the top 10 by number of countries occupied.[4] It is also one of the largest US-headquartered law firms in Asia.

In addition to its large legal practice, Squire maintains one of the largest lobbying practices in Washington D.C. Indeed, Patton Boggs was the largest U.S. lobbying firm by revenue in 2013. The lobbying arm, long managed by Thomas Hale Boggs, Jr., is currently managed by former United States Senators John Breaux and Trent Lott.[5]

History

Squire, Sanders & Dempsey

The firm was founded in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1890 as Squire, Sanders & Dempsey.

Until the 1990s, Squire was primarily an Ohio law firm, with only small offices in several other US cities and in Brussels. It was one of the first US law firms to expand into Eastern Europe in the wake of the Cold War, and under the leadership of firm chairman Thomas Stanton, opened several offices in the former Soviet bloc region during the 1990s, taking on a key role in the privatization of state enterprises in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Ukraine and Poland.[6][7] It subsequently absorbed a number of other legal practices including several Pacific Rim offices of Graham & James and the Florida-based law firm of Steel Hector & Davis.[8] The firm also made overtures toward mergers with Denton Wilde Sapte, Seyfarth Shaw and Bryan Cave under Stanton's leadership.[6]

Hammonds LLP

Hammonds was an international law firm headquartered in Leeds, United Kingdom, with offices in Beijing, Berlin, Birmingham, Brussels, Hong Kong, Leeds, Madrid, Manchester, Munich and Paris. Hammonds' origins dated back to the founding of a legal practice in Yorkshire in 1887. Although it was a major firm in Yorkshire and the West Midlands region, it did not open a London office until 1991.[6]

In 2000 Hammond Suddards and Edge Ellison merged, forming Hammond Suddards Edge, at that time the 11th-largest law firm in the UK.[9] The firm's rapid expansion left it 30 million GBP in debt in the early 2000s and led to a downsizing through 2005.[7] The firm was ranked 20th in the UK by turnover in The Lawyer UK 100 2006, with a turnover of £132 million. Throughout 2005-2009, the firm underwent significant restructuring under the stewardship of Managing Partner Peter Crossley. As of 2009, the partnership consisted of approximately 180 partners and over 1,000 employees. Hammonds converted to a Limited Liability Partnership in May 2008.[10]

Hammonds and Squire, Sanders & Dempsey announced that they were in merger talks in August 2010.[11] The partnerships of both firms voted in favour of a merger in November 2010, and it was completed on 1 January 2011, forming the Squire Sanders Swiss verein.[12] The merger with Hammonds added offices in Madrid, Berlin, Paris and Munich to the Squire Sanders network, in addition to significantly boosting its presence in the UK where it previously had only thirty lawyers.[7] London overtook Cleveland as the largest office of the combined firm.[6]

The American Lawyer estimated Squire Sanders to be the 24th largest law firm in the world by number of lawyers[13] and 41st by annual revenue[14] as of 2012.

Patton Boggs

The firm of Patton Boggs was founded in 1962 by James R. Patton, Jr. and joined soon after by George Blow and Thomas Hale Boggs, Jr. It has "participated in the formation of every major multilateral trade agreement considered by Congress."[15] Boggs joined the firm in 1966 after serving as an economist for the Joint Economic Committee and in the executive office of President Lyndon B. Johnson.

Patton Boggs worked in the mid-1990s for the Guatemalan dictatorship, insisting that Sister Dianna Ortiz, who was tortured and raped by members of a death squad, was actually the "victim to an out-of-control, sadomasochistic lover." [16]

The 2014 Vault.com survey of over 18,800 associates ranked Patton Boggs as having the best record for pro bono work in the country.[17]

The firm was sued for damages by Chevron with respect to its activities since Spring 2010 on behalf of Burford Capital and other beneficiaries of an $18 billion judgment obtained by plaintiffs in Ecuador with respect to environmental and health damages resulting from the actions of Texaco, its predecessor, in the Lago Agrio oil field. The action against Patton Boggs was part of litigation that had been in progress for at least 20 years in a number of national and international venues and on which Chevron was estimated to spend $250 million a year.[18] Patton Boggs agreed to a settlement in the Chevron litigation, and two partners involved in the litigation left the firm, shortly prior to its merger with Squire Sanders, although an ethical claim filed against the firm shortly before the merger was left outstanding.[19]

Patton Boggs underwent layoffs and partner exits in 2013 amid a 12% drop in revenue, and entered merger talks with Squire Sanders in 2014.[20] The firms announced that they would merge on June 1, 2014 under the name Squire Patton Boggs, adding 330 attorneys to Squire's existing headcount.[21]

Squire Patton Boggs

As a result of the merger, Patton Boggs closed its Anchorage, Alaska office, and a number of high-profile attorneys left the firm, including Benjamin Ginsberg and two other prominent Republican lawyers who joined Jones Day, and a number of health care policy lawyers who joined Akin Gump.[22]

The combined firm adopted Squire Sanders' existing merit pay system for partners over Patton Boggs' more traditional "eat what you kill" system.[23] Partner compensation under the merit system ranges from $300,000 for some non-equity partners to $3 million for the three most highly compensated partners.[6]

The firm currently posts an abnormally high leverage ratio, with almost eight attorneys to every partner, according to its 2014-end-of-the-year numbers for full-time lawyers. The D.C. offices of Squire Sanders and Patton Boggs recently moved into the same building, previously the long-standing home of legacy Patton Boggs. The combined firm kept separate revenue pools for its two legacy partnerships from the June merger until the end of 2014, those are now unified.[24]

Locations

As of 2015, Squire Patton Boggs has 44 offices in 21 countries on five continents.[25]

It also maintains a network of associated 'best friend' firms in most of South America, the Middle East and Europe.

Notable people and alumni

References

  1. ↑ http://www.nationallawjournal.com/id=1202721637806/Squire-Patton-Boggs-Shows-Stable-Revenue-Per-Lawyer-After-Merger?back=DC&kw=Squire%20Patton%20Boggs%20Shows%20Stable%20Revenue%20Per%20Lawyer%20After%20Merger&et=editorial&bu=National%20Law%20Journal&cn=20150326&src=EMC-Email&pt=Legal%20Times%20Afternoon%20Update
  2. ↑ http://www.nationallawjournal.com/id=1202721637806/Squire-Patton-Boggs-Shows-Stable-Revenue-Per-Lawyer-After-Merger?back=DC&kw=Squire%20Patton%20Boggs%20Shows%20Stable%20Revenue%20Per%20Lawyer%20After%20Merger&et=editorial&bu=National%20Law%20Journal&cn=20150326&src=EMC-Email&pt=Legal%20Times%20Afternoon%20Update
  3. ↑ http://www.nationallawjournal.com/id=1202721637806/Squire-Patton-Boggs-Shows-Stable-Revenue-Per-Lawyer-After-Merger?back=DC&kw=Squire%20Patton%20Boggs%20Shows%20Stable%20Revenue%20Per%20Lawyer%20After%20Merger&et=editorial&bu=National%20Law%20Journal&cn=20150326&src=EMC-Email&pt=Legal%20Times%20Afternoon%20Update
  4. ↑ "Patton Boggs And Squire Sanders Formally Agree On Their Merger". Forbes. 23 May 2014. Retrieved 1 June 2014.
  5. ↑ Ho, Catherine (18 September 2014). "Thomas Boggs Jr. death comes as Squire Patton Boggs faces critical juncture". Washington Post. Retrieved 2 December 2014.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 Triedman, Julie (June 30, 2014). "The Story Behind the Squire Sanders-Patton Boggs Tie-Up". The American Lawyer.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 "How to get a Squire Sanders training contract". Chambers Student. Retrieved 1 June 2014.
  8. ↑ Squire Sanders (2011). Squire Sanders partners approve Western Australia combination. Retrieved 27 September 2011.
  9. ↑ "Gaining the Edge". The Lawyer. 3 July 2000. Retrieved 29 October 2012.
  10. ↑ "Hammonds converts to LLP". The Lawyer. 1 May 2008. Retrieved 29 October 2012.
  11. ↑ "Squire Sanders law firm explores merger with Britain's Hammonds". The Washington Post. 30 August 2010. Retrieved 29 October 2012.
  12. ↑ "Hammonds, Squire Sanders win 90 per cent backing for merger". The Lawyer. 8 November 2010. Retrieved 29 October 2012.
  13. ↑ http://www.americanlawyer.com/PubArticleTAL.jsp?id=1202571229481
  14. ↑ http://www.americanlawyer.com/PubArticleTAL.jsp?id=1202571228982
  15. ↑ "About Us", Patton Boggs
  16. ↑ Sherman, John (2000). Latin America in Crisis. Oxford: Westview Press. p. 111.
  17. ↑ "Vault Rankings: Patton Boggs LLP"
  18. ↑ Steven Mufson (June 29, 2013). "Patton Boggs becomes mired in an epic legal battle with Chevron over jungle oil pits". The Washington Post. Retrieved June 30, 2013.
  19. ↑ Barrett, Paul M. (May 27, 2014). "Patton Partners Tainted by Chevron Pollution Case Won't Stay With New Firm". Bloomberg Businessweek. Retrieved 1 June 2014.
  20. ↑ "Merger Talks Between Patton Boggs, Squire Sanders Moving Forward". Wall Street Journal Law Blog. 26 March 2014. Retrieved 1 April 2014.
  21. ↑ Ho, Catherine (24 May 2014). "Patton Boggs agrees to merger with Squire Sanders". Washington Post. Retrieved 25 May 2014.
  22. ↑ Smith, Jennifer (30 May 2014). "Some High-Profile Exits from Patton Boggs Amid Merger". Wall Street Journal Law Blog. Retrieved 1 June 2014.
  23. ↑ Burton, Lucy (29 May 2014). "Squire Patton Boggs to run with merit-based remuneration structure post merger". The Lawyer. Retrieved 1 June 2014.
  24. ↑ http://www.nationallawjournal.com/id=1202721637806/Squire-Patton-Boggs-Shows-Stable-Revenue-Per-Lawyer-After-Merger?back=DC&kw=Squire%20Patton%20Boggs%20Shows%20Stable%20Revenue%20Per%20Lawyer%20After%20Merger&et=editorial&bu=National%20Law%20Journal&cn=20150326&src=EMC-Email&pt=Legal%20Times%20Afternoon%20Update
  25. ↑ "Overview". Squire Patton Boggs. Retrieved 30 March 2015.

External links