Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld co-chair Abid Qureshi\u00a0said<\/u><\/a>\u00a0his firm, ranked No. 38, is \u201cnot exploring any merger opportunities,\u201d and that they are \u201cvery focused on continued organic growth.\u201d<\/p>\n Gunderson Dettmer, No. 104, also said it doesn\u2019t anticipate being the focus of merger activity in 2026, with global managing partner Jeffrey Higgins\u00a0telling American Lawyer<\/u><\/a>\u00a0that while other firms have \u201csought us out quite a bit\u201d in the past, a combination is \u201cnot on our radar\u201d at the moment.<\/p>\n Law.com reported on Baker Botts engaging in\u00a0merger talks<\/a>\u00a0in 2023. But Baker Botts managing partner Danny David\u00a0said<\/u><\/a>\u00a0this year that \u201cmerger is never a strategy\u201d for the firm, which is ranked No. 67.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Now, however, that even these firms tend to stop short of ruling anything out completely. Because in today\u2019s Biglaw market, saying you\u2019re not<\/em> open to a merger can sound a lot like saying you\u2019re comfortable getting left behind.<\/p>\n With more firms openly acknowledging that they\u2019re willing to at least have the conversation, the industry may be heading toward exactly what some leaders predict: one of the most transformative consolidation cycles the legal profession has seen in decades.<\/p>\n More Big Law Leaders, \u2018Open to Growth,\u2019 Are Willing to Consider Mergers<\/a> [American Lawyer]<\/p>\n Staci Zaretsky<\/a>\u00a0is the managing editor of Above the Law, where she\u2019s worked since 2011. She\u2019d love to hear from you, so please feel free to\u00a0email<\/a>\u00a0her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on\u00a0Bluesky<\/a>,\u00a0X\/Twitter<\/a>, and\u00a0Threads<\/a>,\u00a0or connect with her on\u00a0LinkedIn<\/a>.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/p>\n The post Biglaw\u2019s Merger Market Is Heating Up \u2014 And More Firms Are Willing To Talk<\/a> appeared first on Above the Law<\/a>.<\/p>\n After a blockbuster year for law firm combinations in 2025, the merger chatter in Biglaw isn\u2019t slowing down anytime soon. If anything, more firm leaders are saying the quiet part out loud: they\u2019re open to deals, or at least open to talking about them.<\/p>\n In interviews with the American Lawyer, leaders from several Am Law firms \u2014 including McGuireWoods, Nixon Peabody, Ballard Spahr, Shook Hardy & Bacon, and Miles & Stockbridge \u2014 all suggested that if the right opportunity came along, they\u2019d be willing to consider a merger.<\/p>\n No one is announcing a tie-up tomorrow. But the tone is noticeably different from the old days, when even acknowledging merger conversations could feel like admitting weakness. These days, being \u201copen to growth\u201d has become the standard diplomatic phrasing, a polite way of saying the firm would absolutely take the call. And according to some leaders, the calls are already coming in.<\/p>\n Madeleine McDonough, chair of Shook Hardy & Bacon, said the firm gets regular outreach from potential partners and is willing to consider a range of possibilities, from acquisitions to mergers of equals to even combinations with larger firms. Nothing is currently in the works, she stressed, but the door isn\u2019t closed.<\/p>\n Other firms struck a similar tone. Nixon Peabody\u2019s CEO and managing partner Stephen Zubiago emphasized that culture and talent would matter more than geography or size when considering a deal. Ballard Spahr chair Peter Michaud pointed to the firm\u2019s past combinations as successes and said he\u2019d welcome another if the right opportunity presented itself.<\/p>\n Not every firm is shopping, of course\u2026 at least not right now. Here\u2019s more from Am Law:<\/p>\n Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld co-chair Abid Qureshi\u00a0said<\/u><\/a>\u00a0his firm, ranked No. 38, is \u201cnot exploring any merger opportunities,\u201d and that they are \u201cvery focused on continued organic growth.\u201d<\/p>\n Gunderson Dettmer, No. 104, also said it doesn\u2019t anticipate being the focus of merger activity in 2026, with global managing partner Jeffrey Higgins\u00a0telling American Lawyer<\/u><\/a>\u00a0that while other firms have \u201csought us out quite a bit\u201d in the past, a combination is \u201cnot on our radar\u201d at the moment.<\/p>\n Law.com reported on Baker Botts engaging in\u00a0merger talks<\/a>\u00a0in 2023. But Baker Botts managing partner Danny David\u00a0said<\/u><\/a>\u00a0this year that \u201cmerger is never a strategy\u201d for the firm, which is ranked No. 67.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Now, however, that even these firms tend to stop short of ruling anything out completely. Because in today\u2019s Biglaw market, saying you\u2019re not<\/em> open to a merger can sound a lot like saying you\u2019re comfortable getting left behind.<\/p>\n With more firms openly acknowledging that they\u2019re willing to at least have the conversation, the industry may be heading toward exactly what some leaders predict: one of the most transformative consolidation cycles the legal profession has seen in decades.<\/p>\n More Big Law Leaders, \u2018Open to Growth,\u2019 Are Willing to Consider Mergers<\/a> [American Lawyer]<\/p>\n Staci Zaretsky<\/a>\u00a0is the managing editor of Above the Law, where she\u2019s worked since 2011. She\u2019d love to hear from you, so please feel free to\u00a0email<\/a>\u00a0her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on\u00a0Bluesky<\/a>,\u00a0X\/Twitter<\/a>, and\u00a0Threads<\/a>,\u00a0or connect with her on\u00a0LinkedIn<\/a>.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/p>\n The post Biglaw\u2019s Merger Market Is Heating Up \u2014 And More Firms Are Willing To Talk<\/a> appeared first on Above the Law<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" After a blockbuster year for law firm combinations in 2025, the merger chatter in Biglaw isn\u2019t slowing down anytime soon. If anything, more firm leaders are saying the quiet part out loud: they\u2019re open to deals, or at least open to talking about them. In interviews with the American Lawyer, leaders from several Am Law […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":145788,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-145787","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-above_the_law"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/xira.com\/p\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Staci-Zaretsky-FWh3IS.jpg?fit=150%2C100&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/145787","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=145787"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/145787\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/145788"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=145787"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=145787"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=145787"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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