// After failing to secure a merger partner  — not once, but twice since the summer — and then losing half its partnership to Hogan Lovells, Stroock & Stroock & Don’t-Forget-Lavan will soon close its doors after 147 years.

It’s quite a fall for a firm that ranked in the inaugural Am Law 50 (how high did they rank back then? Find out here!). How did the firm slip from the top of Biglaw? Especially when they were able to lure the best talent with finger-on-the-pulse advertising like this:

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No font conveys a vibrant, forward-thinking outlook better than Goudy Handtooled. Obviously this ad dates back a couple decades, but I can assure readers that, if anything, “hip” and “awe-Stroock” played worse back then. Someone looked at a draft of this, saw “awe-Stroock” and thought, “I worry this might be too subtle… best to change the color.”

Great job, Stroock.

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Joe Patrice is a senior editor at Above the Law and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. Feel free to email any tips, questions, or comments. Follow him on Twitter if you’re interested in law, politics, and a healthy dose of college sports news. Joe also serves as a Managing Director at RPN Executive Search.

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Biglaw, Bonus News Alerts, Stroock & Stroock & Lavan