A leading San Jose law firm, Hopkins Carley and a major Kansas City-based law firm, Lathrop GPM, today jointly announced a “combination,” effective Oct. 1. On that date, the Kansas City firm will absorb the 62 Hopkins Carley lawyers, boosting the expanded firm’s total to 360 lawyers.
Lathrop GPM is an American Lawyer top-200 law firm with 11 offices in seven states and Washington D.C. It will add the Hopkins Carley offices in San Jose and Redwood Shores in its expansion to California.
In a statement today, the two firms said the new national combined firm will have an approximate annual revenue of $250 million.
The Hopkins Carley attorneys will join eight existing Lathrop GPM practice groups, including private client Services,”creating one of the nation’s largest full-service legal teams advising executives, business owners, families and fiduciaries in the ultra-high-net-worth and high-net-worth spaces across multiple generations,” the joint statement said.
The two firms “will move forward as Lathrop GPM,” dropping the Hopkins Carley name, the statement said.
The expansion will double the size of Lathrop GPM’s real estate practice and add depth across all practice areas, including litigation, labor and employment, intellectual property, and corporate, tax and business transactions.
Jennifer Johnson, Managing Shareholder for Hopkins Carley, said in a statement:, “We are proud of our distinguished 60-year legacy in California and excited to enter a new partnership that increases the services our clients trust us to provide.”
“This new chapter brings expanded practices, a coast-to-coast presence, and industry breadth and depth, all of which will benefit our clients and attorneys,” Johnson said. “It provides opportunities to leverage new technologies and innovations that give us a more competitive edge to serve our pioneering client base.”
“This is an exciting time for Lathrop GPM and our clients,” said Cameron Garrison, Lathrop GPM’s managing partner. “California's legal market is one of the largest and most dynamic in the U.S. This combination with Hopkins Carley provides high-quality critical mass in the Bay Area, a vibrant legal market with a diverse economy.”
The new Lathrop GPM offices in San Jose and Redwood Shores become the firm’s third and fourth largest offices respectively, led by Kansas City with approximately 100 lawyers and Minneapolis with approximately 80 lawyers.
Bloomberg News reported today that this merger adds to the growing volume of U.S. law firm combinations executed this year. Consultants at Fairfax Associates tracked 29 mergers in the first half of the year, up from 28 in the same period last year and 25 in 2022, according to Bloomberg.
Law firms are considering mergers as a way to expand client services to more jurisdictions while harnessing the cost savings of economies of scale.
Lathrop’s acquisition of Hopkins Carley will be its second since 2020, when it was formed out of Kansas City’s Lathrop Gage and Minneapolis’ Gray Plant Mooty..
Hopkins Carley’s history reflects the evolution and entrepreneurship of Silicon Valley, the firm’s home since 1968.
Santa Clara County Supervisor Susan Ellenberg’s husband Steve works at Hopkins Carley. Former San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed retired from the firm in January after spending his nine post-mayoral years there.
