Talk about a Friday news dump. At 5:42 p.m., when just about everyone was either a couple of sheets in at Happy Hour or halfway to Rehoboth, the announcement came in, subject line: “Squire Sanders and Patton Boggs Announce Agreement to Combine Firms.”  

The release laid out the particulars: “Operating under the name Squire Patton Boggs, the firm will consist of approximately 1,600 lawyers spanning 45 offices in 21 countries around the world. This places the firm among the top 25 firms globally in terms of lawyer headcount, and eighth by number of countries where they have offices, as per The American Lawyer  2013 Global 100. The firm will also rank as one of the top 10 largest firms in Washington DC with approximately 280 lawyers and among the largest in the United States with roughly 785 lawyers.”  

Patton Boggs, like many K Street firms who have seen revenue plunge in recent years, has been trying to figure it out lately, shedding partners and checking out its merger options, so it’s no huge surprise that this happened. Earlier this week, the merger hit a snag over last minute jitters over Patton Boggs’ involvement in a lawsuit between Chevron and Ecuadorean villagers. The late-Friday-before-the-holiday-announcement signals that the powers that be finally got enough of a green light to not call the whole thing off. Congratulations to the happy couple.  

www.youtube.com/watch?v=ya8-ZKcOhiY