Partners Seem Worried About How Biglaw Behemoth A&O Shearman Will Operate

// Ed. note: Welcome to our daily feature, Quote of the Day.

If I was an A&O partner in the U.S., would I be worried? Yes.

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A&O should try and keep the best Shearman partners within the integrated firm. If A&O keeps on taking the lead in the U.S., there is a risk of further Shearman partners leaving, and the merger not being successful.

— A former A&O partner, in anonymous comments given to the Law.com International on what could possibly go wrong for A&O Shearman after the newly merged firm’s official launch date in May, from who will lead the firm to how it will operate in the U.S. and across the globe. “In the U.S., there is concern over how the Shearman culture fits in with what we’re doing,” said another lawyer with knowledge of A&O. “It seems impossible that [Shearman partners] won’t be in the driving seat given how many of them there are.”

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Staci Zaretsky is a senior editor at Above the Law, where she’s worked since 2011. She’d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on Twitter and Threads or connect with her on LinkedIn.

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A&O Shearman, Biglaw, Law Firm Mergers, Partner Issues, Quote of the Day