CHARLOTTE, N.C.–LAWFUEL – Legal News Daily –The merger of McGuireWoods LLP and Helms Mulliss & Wicker, PLLC became effective today, significantly raising McGuireWoods’ profile in the North Carolina market and adding resources to serve the legal needs of its clients worldwide.
With the completion of the merger, McGuireWoods has nearly 900 lawyers, including close to 160 in Charlotte, and offices in 17 cities in the United States, Europe and Central Asia. The merger with Helms Mulliss also extends McGuireWoods’ North Carolina presence to the Raleigh and Wilmington markets.
“McGuireWoods is committed to continuing and enhancing the Helms Mulliss legacy, which was built on providing superior legal counsel and excellent client service,” said Peter Covington, vice chairman of McGuireWoods LLP. “We believe this combination will allow us to raise the bar even further in serving current and future clients here in North Carolina and around the world.”
From an overall industry perspective, the merger strengthens McGuireWoods’ position in the top tier of U.S. law firms. The firm previously was named No. 3 in a survey of most frequently named “go-to” law firms for big-ticket litigation, and was named last year to the renowned Vault Guide to the Top 100 Law Firms, a list of the nation’s most prestigious law firms as ranked by more than 16,000 practicing attorneys.
Helms Mulliss was recently ranked No. 2 in the U.S. when serving as issuer’s counsel for preferred stock offerings in the Thomson Financial league tables. The firm also was named in the top 20 law firms in the U.S. in representing issuers of investment grade corporate debt and in the top 20 firms representing providers of syndicated credit facilities.
Together the firms had 143 Super Lawyers in 2007 – an honor awarded annually to the top 5 percent of each state’s lawyers.
“McGuireWoods is truly fortunate to be joining forces with one of the finest law firms in the Southeast,” said John Fennebresque, a member of McGuireWoods’ six-member executive committee and a partner since the 1999 merger of McGuireWoods and Fennebresque, Clark, Swindell & Hay. “I look forward to welcoming Peter to the executive committee and working together with the rest of the committee to guide our future growth.”
Integration of practice groups has already begun, and physical consolidation of offices will be phased in over a period of time, Covington said. Most of the firms’ technology infrastructure, including telephone systems and e-mail, was expected to be integrated as of today.
“We want all of our clients to know that they can expect continuity and a seamless transition during the integration period,” Covington said. “The goal of this merger is to provide our clients with better service than ever, and we’re getting to work on that goal immediately.”
McGuireWoods LLP is a full-service law firm with offices in the United States, Europe and Central Asia providing legal counsel to clients around the world. For more information, visit www.mcguirewoods.com.
