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A boardroom is seen in an office building in Manhattan, New York City, New York, U.S., May 24, 2021. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly/File Photo Acquire Licensing Rights
Oct 31 (Reuters) – U.S. law firm Stroock & Stroock & Lavan has voted to dissolve after a series of lawyer exits gutted its partnership and it failed to secure a merger with a larger firm.
The New York-founded law firm’s remaining partners voted on Oct. 24 to authorize its executive committee to “dissolve the firm at the appropriate time,” co-managing partners Alan Klinger and Jeffrey Keitelman said in an internal email on Monday.
The executive committee will soon implement that vote, according to the email, which was viewed by Reuters. The email did not specify the details of the dissolution plan.
Stroock, founded in 1876, has lost large teams of attorneys to rival law firms in the last year. Known for its work in areas including real estate and bankruptcy, it has struggled to compete with other large, highly-profitable firms in recent years.
Stroock had 222 lawyers and revenue of $250 million in 2022, according to The American Lawyer.
In the most recent defection, more than 30 partners from Stroock are poised to join Hogan Lovells, including Keitelman and members of the firm’s real estate team, Hogan Lovells said in a Oct. 27 statement.
The group move to Hogan Lovells was discussed by Stroock’s partnership, Klinger and Keitelman said in Monday’s email. They said the move will “offer the best opportunities and growth potential for the most members of our firm.”
Stroock’s dissolution process will start when the Hogan Lovells transaction closes within the next few weeks, according to a person familiar with the matter.
The talks with Hogan Lovells began in early September and were focused on a “large-scale lateral group acquisition, not a merger,” the internal Stroock email said.
The mass departure to Hogan Lovells was announced the day after Stroock and another large firm, Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman, said that they were discontinuing talks toward a potential merger. That followed failed merger discussions between Stroock and several other firms, including Nixon Peabody.
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