May 28, 2008 1:17 PM

Rocky Mountain High: Holland & Hart, Hale Lane to Merge

Posted by Brian Baxter

In a merger that will create one of the largest firms in the Mountain West region, 350-lawyer Holland & Hart announced yesterday its plans to merge with Nevada's Hale Lane Peek Dennison and Howard. The merger, which has already been approved by both firms with an expected July completion date, creates a 415-lawyer firm with 15 offices throughout the U.S.

"It sounds like a tagline but it really was a natural partnership between the two firms," says Hale Lane managing partner Timothy Lukas. "With the Nevada market growing we had been getting offers from several firms--Lewis and Roca, Holland & Knight, a bunch of California coastal firms--but we wanted this to work culturally."

Founded in Reno by real estate lawyer Edward Everett Hale in 1971, Hale Lane has grown into a 50-lawyer firm with offices in Las Vegas and Carson City, Nev. True to its roots, today's client base is largely focused on residential real estate, renewable energy, and government affairs and lobbying. (Lukas aknowledges that the residential real estate market has "softened," but expects it to rebound.)

Nevada has been called the fastest-growing U.S. state in recent years and Lukas says Hale Lane's clients were looking for a higher degree of sophistication in their legal work. "Some of the California firms had billing rates that were two times what ours were so we had to factor that into any decision to merge with a top-tier firm," Lukas says. "And when we started talking with Holland & Hart we found a similar quality of lawyer that wouldn't put us at a billable disadvantage for our clients."

Denver-based Holland & Hart is known for its Mountain West niche and in the past two years the perennial Am Law 200 firm has opened offices in Las Vegas and Reno. The two firms soon found themselves both sharing clients and being adverse to one another, says John Husband, the chairman of Holland & Hart's management committee. "[Hale Lane] is one of the premier firms in Nevada and we couldn't help but notice they looked a lot like us but smaller," Husband says.

Lukas and Husband say Holland & Hart reached out to the Nevada firm about nine months ago and discussions proceeded from there. "Through [Holland & Hart's] high-level tax and ERISA work, IP, and litigation strategies, we felt this would be the best decision for our clients," Lukas says. Holland & Hart's decision to open its small Reno office a year ago demonstrated to Hale Lane that the firm was committed not only to Las Vegas, but Nevada as well.

Holland & Hart's one-tier partnership was another selling point. Lukas says Hale Lane's 22 partners unanimously approved the merger; all will become full equity partners in the merged entity. (According to the The American Lawyer's Am Law 200 survey, due out tomorrow, Holland & Hart had 2007 gross revenues of $160.5 million and profits per partner of $400,000.)

Husband says there has already been a "steady flow of work" between the two firms and that he expects Holland & Hart to continue to look for opportunities in the ever-expanding American West. "We don't have an office yet in Arizona so that's a place we're looking at," he says.

Lukas will manage the firm's Reno and Carson City offices and Holland & Hart's Greg Gilbert will head up the firm's Las Vegas office. The two firms will start looking for new space for their combined Sin City operations sometime within the next few months.

Even a soft market has its advantages.

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