Blank Rome Absorbs Houston Litigation Boutique

Blank Rome is expanding its presence in the Texas legal market by acquiring Abrams Scott & Bickley , a nine-lawyer litigation boutique based in Houston.

The Legal Intelligencer, a sibling publication, reports that Philadelphia-based Blank Rome will pick up five partners once the deal is expected to close on June 30.

Blank Rome first announced its plans to open in Houston a year ago after hiring Joseph Speelman, a former associate general counsel and chief of litigation for firm client LyondellBasell. Speelman said in a statement on Wednesday that he had worked closely with lawyers from Abrams Scott while at the Dutch chemical giant, and looked forward to continuing the relationship at Blank Rome.

The Intelligencer reports that Abrams Scott and Blank Rome share a number of key clients, including energy and industrial services companies like LyondellBasell, Chevron, ExxonMobil, and Shell Oil. Blank Rome hopes that synergy will allow its own chemical and energy industry practices to piggyback off the experience of their new colleagues on the litigation side in Houston.

Blank Rome had been actively seeking a local team of lawyers to supplement Speelman in Houston so the 500-lawyer Am Law 100 firm could establish a legitimate base in the city. ( The Philadelphia Business Journal reports that Speelman worked out of his house while Blank Rome sought out potential merger partners in Houston to establish a more formal office there.)

The Abrams Scott hires include name partners Barry Abrams, Robert Scott, and Susan Bickley, as well as partners Sue Rosenthal and Jack Higdon. The firm specializes in product liability, commercial, and appellate litigation, according to The Intelligencer. Blank Rome will remain in Abrams Scott's current office space, where there is room for expansion, and Abrams will serve as its new local managing partner.

According to The Intelligencer, Blank Rome also hopes to see its public finance and government relations practices work well with their new colleagues at Abrams Scott, which represents the Texas Municipal League Intergovernmental Risk Pool and several other municipalities. Houston's status as one of the 10 largest ports in the world should also bolster Blank Rome's maritime practice.

Founded in 1946, Blank Rome has made three notable merger deals with other firms over the past decade. The firm merged with 80-lawyer Tenzer Greenblatt in February 2000, 42-lawyer Washington, D.C.-based maritime boutique Dyer Ellis & Joseph in January 2003, and another maritime merger in September 2004 with 28-lawyer Healy & Baillie . (Blank Rome later defeated a suit by a legal recruiter seeking to collect a merger fee from the deal with New York-based Healy & Baillie.)

According to this year's Am Law 100 rankings , Blank Rome saw gross revenue decrease 3.4 percent in 2010 to $311 million, while profits per partner increased 3.8 percent to $690,000.

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