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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowTom Froehle, chief executive partner for Baker & Daniels, and Andrew Humphrey, chair of Faegre & Benson’s management committee, held a joint news conference Oct. 12 to formally announce that the two firms will merge, effective Jan. 1, 2012. The new firm – Faegre Baker Daniels – will have 770 attorneys and 45 consultants in the United States and abroad, Humphrey said.
Humphrey will be the new firm’s managing partner, and Froehle will be chief operating partner.
“We quite intentionally view this combination as an opportunity to embrace a one-firm, cross-office approach,” Humphrey said. “We’ve intentionally decided that the combined firm will not have a headquarters location.”
Froehle said the firm had no plans to lay off lawyers or staff.
The consulting division of Baker & Daniels will become FaegreBD Consulting, with offices in Washington, D.C. The new firm creates a strong presence in the Midwest, with 13 offices across Indiana, Illinois, Minnesota, Iowa and Colorado. The firm will also have offices in Shanghai, Beijing and London. Baker & Daniels opened its Beijing office in 1998; Faegre & Benson has been in Shanghai since 2001.
“Some of you may know that within the legal press, there is a definition often used by the National Law Journal that defines a national firm as not having more than 50 percent of their lawyers in one office,” Humphrey said. Under that definition, Faegre Baker Daniels will be a national firm.
Baker & Daniels announced in August that it was in merger discussions with the Minneapolis-based firm. Faegre & Benson, founded in 1886, has represented Boston Scientific Corp., Novartis Pharmaceuticals, Wells Fargo and others. Baker & Daniels, founded in 1863, offers services in more than 35 practice areas and industries.
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