K&L Gates moots Carolinas merger

KIRKPATRICK & LOCKHART Preston Gates Ellis LLP (K&L Gates) is holding talks with Kennedy Covington Lobdell & Hickman LLP (Kennedy Covington) about a possible merger.

Discussions began in late 2007, and a deal could be cemented as early as July 2008, the firms confirmed.

The attraction for both firms is the “diverse business community” on offer in North and South Carolina, they said in a joint statement.

Kennedy Covington has offices in Charlotte, Research Triangle Park, Columbia and Rock Hill in the region. While giving special emphasis to Charlotte’s standing as “the second largest financial centre” in the US, they added there were significant opportunities in a number of sectors, including corporate, life sciences and real estate.

K&L Gates chairman Peter Kalis said: “The Carolinas are integrated into the global economy and are a destination for major investments by foreign business enterprises.

“Kennedy Covington is one of the nation’s preeminent regional law firms, making it a very attractive potential partner.”

Kennedy Covington managing partner, Eugene C. Pridgen added: “In K&L Gates, we believe that we have found a global firm that shares our commitment to our clients, to our communities and to our lawyers and staff.”

A successful tie-up between the two firms would give the combined entity an additional 175 lawyers, taking the total to 1,700 across 28 offices in Europe, the US and Asia.

K&L Gates currently has bases in Boston, Berlin, Beijing, London, Los Angeles, New York. Pittsburgh, San Francisco, Taipei and Washington, D.C, among others. In April 2008 a second Chinese office was opened in Shanghai.

The firm also said it had successfully recruited two new intellectual property partners for its New York office. Gary A. Walpart and Andrew L. Reibman joined from Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr and Kenyon & Kenyon respectively.