Mergers & Acquisitions
K&L Gates Merges with Dallas Firm
Posted Dec 17, 2007, 02:06 pm CST
By Molly McDonough
After months of talks, New York-based Kilpatrick & Lockhart Preston Gates Ellis voted today to merge with one of the largest firms in Dallas, Hughes & Luce.
The combined firm will have more than 1,500 lawyers and 23 offices in the United States, Europe and Asia, according to a news release.
“Partners of both firms believe that K&L Gates will serve Texas businesses as a legal bridge to the globalized economy of the 21st century, just as it has in other parts of the United States, Europe and Asia,” Peter Kalis, K&L Gates’ chairman and global managing partner and Edward Coultas, Hughes & Luce’s managing partner, said in the release.
Hughes & Luce will not be represented in the firm name, which will remain K&L Gates and, in full, Kirkpatrick & Lockhart Preston Gates Ellis LLP.
The marriage is effective Jan. 1.