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Morgan Lewis Chairwoman Jami McKeon

Morgan Lewis officially opened its doors to 226 partners from Bingham McCutchen today along with 525 other lawyers and staff. The massive absorption of Bingham lawyers makes Morgan one of the five largest firms in the world.

With the additions, Morgan now numbers more than 2,000 lawyers in 28 offices in the United States, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East and has added a telecommunications practices, which it did not have before. The firm also added two new offices in Santa Monica, California and Hartford, Connecticut.

“Our strategic decisions have always been driven, first and foremost, by our clients’ needs,” said Morgan Lewis Chair Jami McKeon in a firm press release. “In welcoming more than 750 talented lawyers and staff from Bingham today, we continue to build a firm that is capable of mobilizing teams to partner with clients on their most pressing legal and business challenges wherever they arise around the globe.”

The deal also allowed Bingham partners to stave off bankruptcy, a likely scenario if a deal was not completed.

“In Morgan Lewis, we have found a perfect new home,” said Steve Browne, managing partner of Bingham McCutchen. “We already serve many of the same clients, but we will now have the added resources to assist them in new ways and in new markets, including in Europe and Latin America and in the center of the United States. This is a very exciting day for our clients and us.”

McKeon noted that the two firms have a large number of clients in common, and in many areas have complementary practices and industries of focus. Clients will find in the expanded firm added resources to assist them in new ways and in new markets.

Bingham clients gain access to deeper services in areas where Morgan Lewis is highly regarded, such as white collar, high-stakes litigation, corporate transactions, labor and employment, energy, FDA, immigration and healthcare, as well as offices in Houston, Chicago and international markets.

Morgan Lewis gains new or expanded capabilities by welcoming top-tier lawyers who counsel clients in areas including telecommunications, structured transactions, environmental litigation, securities enforcement, global asset management, project finance, restructuring, institutional investor finance, tax planning and tax controversy, intellectual property, antitrust, and a broader presence in Asia.

“We are delighted that our new colleagues have today joined our efforts to create a new global powerhouse that delivers the highest quality results and advances our clients’ legal and business interests – from New York to Tokyo, London to San Francisco, Silicon Valley to Moscow, and points in between,” said McKeon.