The South Carolina-based firm of Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough, which also has a large presence in North Carolina, is expanding further into Florida by merging with Broad and Cassel, creating a firm with more than 725 attorneys practicing in ...

Tagged with: Business Large Firms Merger Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough

North Carolina suffered some hard economic punches in 2010, but the state's top law firms weren't knocked out of the ring. In fact, they say they were well-prepared for the fight. Lawyers Weekly surveyed managing partners or other top leaders at 10 of the Tar Heel State's biggest firms to find out how they fared in 2010 and their predictions for 2011.

Tagged with: economy Large Firms Recession

Law firms across the state tightened their belts in 2009 after a year of recession-forced layoffs and cutbacks. This year, although the slow economy is still staring the profession in the face, some firms decided to loosen up the purse strings a little, while others continued to scale back. At Smith Moore Leatherwood's Raleigh office, Brad Risinger said the firm wanted to be frugal. "The emphasis is to protect a nice bonus for the staff," said Risinger, the managing partner of the Raleigh office. At the firm's Greensboro office, employees are traditionally treated to a catered lunch. But one of the real hits of the holiday season was attorney Kent Auberry's (pictured) portrayal of Santa Claus.

Tagged with: economy Large Firms law firms Recession

In 1960, fewer than 40 law firms in this country had 50 or more lawyers. In the latest listing of the 250 largest U.S. firms - even after two years of declines in total employment - No. 250 on the list still employed 160 attorneys. Many of these firms began to practice in a single city or small region before their growth took them to a national level. Often such law firms followed their corporate clients, which for decades have lived by the philosophy that bigger was better.

Tagged with: Large Firms law firms Practice Management

Largest firms survey reveals dip in numbers, but optimism is returning. Pinched by recession, the total in-state lawyer count at North Carolina’s 25 largest firms has contracted slightly over the past year, although most firm leaders say that the future ...

Tagged with: Charlotte Large Firms Recession