I spent three years as an associate in the London office of Wilmer, Cutler & Pickering and still have warm feelings towards the firm, even though it has grown a lot in the decade plus since I was there, and there are fewer and fewer of the folks I knew. Now it's going to change (with the times?) by merging with Hale & Dorr, a Boston-based law firm, according to an email to firm alumni from WC&P managing chairman William Perlstein.
The initial word from the trade press seems positive, e.g. this item in the Washington Business Journal:
On the surface, the firms' practices mesh well: Both have strong litigation departments, and Wilmer's regulatory expertise combined with Hale and Dorr's corporate work would complement each other.
The firms' cultures also match, according to former attorneys at both firms.
“I would say that most law firm mergers are two dinosaurs mating, hoping to get a gazelle. That would not be the case here,” says Bill Flannery, president of WJF Institute, an Austin, Texas-based law firm marketing consultant. “Here you have two superior, cutting-edge, strong law firms. I'm very impressed by this merger, if in fact this is going to happen.”
Firm mergers tend to be difficult; for the sake of the folks I know at WC&P, I hope this one works out.
When I was there WC&P had a very intellectual and public-spirited culture, even in the branch offices (albeit slightly attenuated by distance); my sense is that this ethic has so far survived despite being under pressure from the exigencies of law firm economics. It's even possible, given the economies of scale in legal practice (which seems to push firms to being small boutiques or megafirms, with little room for midsize), that growth of this sort may be the only way to preserve that culture. It would be interesting, though, to hear from more recent and more senior WC&P alumni (hint).
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