Faegre Baker Daniels and Drinker Biddle & Reath have merged. The combined firm will begin operations as Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath (Faegre Drinker) on Feb. 1, 2020.
With more than 1,300 attorneys and consultants in 22 offices across the U.S. and in China and the United Kingdom, Faegre Drinker will be one of the nation’s 50 largest law firms based on both size and projected gross revenue of nearly $1 billion.
The combination will add depth and breadth of experience and match strength with strength in each of the firm’s four largest practice areas: corporate, business litigation, product liability and intellectual property. The corporate and business litigation teams will each include more than 200 attorneys, and product liability and intellectual property attorneys will both number approximately 150. The combined firm also will have new practice capabilities and deeper regulatory expertise across a number of areas including employee benefits, finance and restructuring, government advocacy, health, insurance, investment management, labor and employment, private client, and real estate.
Faegre Baker Daniels Consulting — FaegreBD’s advisory and advocacy division based in Washington, D.C. — will become Faegre Drinker Consulting. Drinker Biddle’s ancillary businesses — Tritura Information Governance, Innovative Health Strategies, and its government advocacy arm, The District Policy Group — will also become part of the combined firm’s service offerings.
The firm will combine offices in three cities: Chicago, Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. In both Chicago and Washington, D.C., the combined offices will be significantly larger, with more than 150 lawyers and consultants each. Drinker Biddle will gain offices in important business centers, including Denver, Indianapolis, Minneapolis and Silicon Valley, as well as three international offices in London, Beijing and Shanghai. Faegre Baker Daniels will gain new offices in strategic markets, including Dallas, New Jersey, New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco and Wilmington, Delaware. The firm’s five largest offices will be in Chicago, Indianapolis, Minneapolis, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C.
The combined firm will be co-chaired by Drinker Biddle Chairman and CEO Andy Kassner and Faegre Baker Daniels Chair and Managing Partner Tom Froehle, who characterize the merger as a unique alignment of core values and a combination of equals.
In addition to Froehle and Kassner, the firm’s executive leadership team will include Faegre Baker Daniels partners David Barrett, Gina Kastel and Jack Sperber; Drinker Biddle partners Bill Connolly and Judy Reich; and Drinker Biddle Chief Operating Officer Jane Koehl, who will continue as COO of the combined firm.
