June 22, 2009 2:39 PM

Howrey to Acquire Day Casebeer; Barnes & Thornburg to Merge with Minneapolis Firm

Posted by Nate Raymond

A couple of our sibling publications have news of law firm mergers and acquisitions this Monday.

Howrey/Day Casebeer

First, The Recorder breaks the news that Howrey is in advanced talks to acquire Day Casebeer Madrid & Batchelder, the IP boutique at the center of the Qualcomm discovery scandal. If the merger goes through, Howrey would pick up a 27-lawyer team in Northern California, where the firm has been expanding aggressively in recent years.

"As part of our ongoing plans for expansion in Northern California, Howrey has spoken with many different firms," the firm said in a statement to The Recorder. The paper cited unnamed sources familiar with the situation. "Whenever law firms combine their practices, it is an incredibly complex process, and numerous issues must be resolved before the parties can come to a full agreement. As of today, there is no deal with any firm. A statement will be forthcoming at the appropriate time."

Day Casebeer found itself at the center of a scandal in 2007 after it emerged that firm lawyers representing Qualcomm, as well as others from Heller Ehrman, did not turn over thousands of documents in discovery to Broadcom Corp. The court sanctioned five Day Casebeer lawyers and one Heller attorney; the order has since been vacated until the lawyers can tell their side of the story. Four of the five have since left Day Casebeer, which also lost Qualcomm as a client. Remaining clients include Sun Microsystems Inc. and Amgen Inc.

Barnes & Thornburg/The Parsinen Law Firm

The National Law Journal reports that Indianapolis-based Barnes & Thornburg will merge with The Parsinen Law Firm, a 22-lawyer practice in Minneapolis. The deal goes into effect July 1.

The Parsinen firm specializes in business litigation, employment, real estate, corporate, energy, and trusts and estates. Barnes & Thornburg managing partner Alan Levin says the firm was eager to acquire a Minneapolis branch so it could bring its IP practice to the Twin Cities, according to the NLJ report.

This is Barnes & Thornburg's third new office opening this year (an Atlanta office opened in early April; news of a Columbus office came a week later). The Indianapolis-based firm has 476 attorneys in ten U.S. cities.

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