Firm Profiles

The October 2007 merger between Dallas–based Locke, Liddell & Sapp and Chicago’s Lord, Bissell & Brook didn’t just create a legal powerhouse with hundreds of millions of dollars in annual revenue, it also created one tongue–twister of a name. Four years later, the firm would do something about that, changing Locke, Lord, Bissell & Liddell to, simply, Locke Lord. No doubt this was a relief to the firm’s receptionists. But its name isn’t the only thing Locke Lord has tweaked.

Recent years have seen Locke Lord embrace an ambitious growth strategy. In 2010 it opened a San Francisco office and expanded its New York office, both moves designed to grow the firm’s intellectual property practice (a full–service firm, Locke Lord handles transactional, regulatory, and litigation assignments, with energy, insurance, and real estate among its core practice areas). In 2011 the firm set its sights on Asia, opening an office in Hong Kong. In early 2012 it put down stakes in London, boosted by the addition of seven partners from the European megafirm Salans. The London office is Locke Lord’s first in Europe (its 11 other offices are located within the United States).

What hasn’t gotten a boost, however, is the firm’s pro bono commitment: Locke Lord placed 141st (of 200 firms) on The American Lawyer’s 2011 Pro Bono Report, with attorneys compiling an average annual workload of just 23 hours. Nor is the firm a chart–topper in diversity: Minorities composed less than 10 percent of Locke Lord’s U.S.based attorneys, and just 6 percent of its partnership, in 2011—figures that placed it 131st of 194 firms the magazine surveyed. Junior lawyers have seen some of their perks dry up, too: To cut costs during the recession, Locke Lord stopped paying for associates’ parking.

—Updated as of 1/1/12