June 29, 2011 7:15 PM

Thomson Reuters Divests Hildebrandt Baker Robbins

Posted by Monica Bay

From Law Technology News

Thomson Reuters announced Wednesday that it will divest its Hildebrandt Baker Robbins (HBR) consulting arm.

The Hildebrandt unit will become an independent business under the name HBR Consulting once the deal takes effect on July 1. Christopher Petrini-Poli will head up the entity, according to a statement posted late Wednesday on HBR Consulting's Web site. The consultacy will serve law firms and law departments, and will operate from offices in Chicago, New York, and Houston.

"The business of law has changed markedly in the last five years and HBR Consulting is responding to those changes to stay a step ahead of the needs of our clients," said Petrini-Poli via the Web site. "This new, independent consulting firm will provide greater value to our customers in this new era. We are immediately a stronger, more nimble and more focused resource for the legal community."

HBR Consulting will continue to partner with Thomson Reuters on engagements where the two companies have mutual interests, the Web site states.

In a statement to Law Technology News earlier in the day, John Shaughnessy, vice president for communications at TR, said the new company will "focus on law firm operations and technology consult[ing]." TR will retain some components of Hildebrandt Baker Robbins, including the Hildebrandt Institute and Peer Monitor, he said. Peer Monitor analyzes and reports on key law firm financial and operational performance factors; the Hildebrandt Institute provides business information, roundtables, and education programming. Engage, a software-based tool that helps firms budget, estimate, and manage alternative fee-based legal work, will be aligned with TR's Elite financial software unit, according to Shaughnessy.

Bradford Hildebrandt--who founded the legal consulting firm Hildebrandt, Inc., in 1975--will continue with TR, supporting senior executives and law firm managing partners in an advisory role, Shaughnessy said. Hildebrandt, one of the top legal consulting firms in the U.S., merged with tech consultancy Baker Robbins & Company in 2009; both were then units of Thomson Reuters.

 

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