On Jan. 1, 2025, Lewis Roca and Womble Bond Dickinson will become a more than 1,300 attorney firm spanning 37 offices across the U.S. and United Kingdom. The combined firm will operate as Womble Bond Dickinson in the U.S.
Caitlin McHugh, managing partner of Lewis Roca’s Colorado offices, told Law Week that merger talks started in April and moved slowly as both firms did their due diligence.
“No one was looking to merge for the sake of merging, but wanted to make sure it really would be something that would benefit not just our firms, but our clients,” McHugh said.
She added that the summer has been used for the firms to get to know each other and make sure it was a good fit for everyone.
Scot Anderson, WBD’s Denver office managing partner, said there were several benefits for the firm’s Denver office. WBD’s Denver office opened just a year ago, and Anderson said the firm’s intention was always to build it out into a full service office.
“We have just a lot more depth and breadth at a pace that accelerated beyond what we thought it would do, which is great,” Anderson said. “It’s great for our clients, it really opens up some new avenues for us.”
In Denver, Anderson mentioned two specific practice areas where the merger will deepen each team’s strengths — intellectual property and energy.
Anderson said that institutionally, WBD has a deep and broad IP practice that he’ll be able to build on with Lewis Roca throughout the firm. He’s also working to grow the IP component of the practice in Denver, as WBD works to grow in innovation centers.
Colorado and the Rocky Mountains also remain a hub for the energy industry, and Anderson noted that area would remain an important focus for the firm.
“Part of what’s driving the market right now is the whole press toward the energy transition,” Anderson said. “There’s still going to be a lot of oil and gas produced and used for a very long time, that’s still a key component of the energy economy, but we’re also focusing on things like finding lithium and copper and cobalt to allow the energy transition to [move] forward.”
McHugh said the firms also complement each other both geographically and practice-wide.
“If you look firm-wide, [Colorado] is one of the only markets that we both have offices,” McHugh said. “We are geographically different, and we had fairly different but complementary practices.”
She noted that while WBD had strengths in energy and IP, it didn’t have many litigators. McHugh said that Lewis Roca, on the other hand, has built out a strong litigation practice in Denver over the past century.
“We’re proud to be able to bring and help fill that piece of the litigation and work closely with John Hawk and the Womble office in Denver,” McHugh said. “And then our IP group, they both focused on different things, but similar core competencies and are looking forward to working together.”
While the firms’ practices and areas compliment each other, McHugh said there was also a good culture fit between the firms, with both firms focused on both client service and efforts to build offices that are collaborative and welcoming.
“I think everybody sees the practice of law as a cooperative venture, that you work together to be successful to serve your clients,” Anderson said. “If there’s a primadonna I haven’t found him or her yet, that’s a good sign that people pull together to get the job done. So I feel pretty good about everything lining up on that front.”
As the firms move closer to the merger date, McHugh said there’s a big focus on integration between the firms.
“It’s a chance to figure out what are the things that either firm was doing particularly well, and how do we use those as opportunities to innovate,” McHugh said. “I think that’s our goal, to take the best of both firms to make it the best version of Womble it’s ever been.”
What that looks like on the ground in Denver is efforts between the firms to help the attorneys and business professionals get to know each other, including an invite to Womble’s attorneys for Lewis Roca’s annual Oktoberfest, bratwursts and pretzels included.
“So that way, when Jan. 1 comes, we can hit the ground running and interact like seasoned colleagues,” McHugh said.
Looking past the merger, McHugh said the initial focus will be getting everyone integrated and working together, and taking stock of where the combined office is at and what its needs are. But she said they’re always looking for talented people, and she wouldn’t close off the opportunity to bring in the right people or groups if the fit is right.
Anderson echoed that, and while he expects that the office will continue to grow, he said that the firm will need to digest the merger before making the next move.