Attorneys scramble as failed merger spells end for 101-year-old law firm. (Law).LYON & Lyon LLP LLP - Lower Layer Protocol has gone out like a lamb. Partners of the 101-year-old Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. intellectual property boutique voted to dissolve on Aug. 7 after last-minute merger discussions fell through. Eighty-seven attorneys, including 31 partners, are dispersing to other firms from Lyon & Lyon's offices in L.A., Washington and San Jose San Jose, city, United States San Jose (sănəzā`, săn hōzā`), city (1990 pop. 782,248), seat of Santa Clara co., W central Calif.; founded 1777, inc. 1850. . Meanwhile, the firm's offices in Irvine and San Diego San Diego (săn dēā`gō), city (1990 pop. 1,110,549), seat of San Diego co., S Calif., on San Diego Bay; inc. 1850. San Diego includes the unincorporated communities of La Jolla and Spring Valley. Coronado is across the bay. continue to hold merger discussions with other firms. The firm will close its doors Aug. 31. Lyon & Lyon, plagued by partner defections in the past few years, had been in talks to merge with Palo Alto-based Townsend and Townsend and Crew Townsend and Townsend and Crew LLP was established in 1860, and is an intellectual property law firm with more than 170 attorneys. The firm provides legal services and also advises clients with regard to antitrust and business disputes. LLP. Those talks ended on July 26. "When that failed, there was a loss of confidence, and people started looking outward rather than inward," said Jack McConaghy, partner at Lyon & Lyon in L.A. Lyon & Lyon has 16 partners in L.A. and eight partners in Irvine. McConaghy, who declined to say who he would be joining, said senior partner Robert Lyon, grandson of founder Frederick Lyon, is going to Holland & Knight LLP. In Irvine, senior partner James Geriak is spearheading merger discussions, McConaghy said. Geriak could not be reached for comment. Lyon & Lyon, founded in 1901, is one of the last major IP boutiques in L.A. In recent years, like several other IP firms, it could no longer compete with the larger, general practice law firms with IP practices. In 2000, several partners left Lyon & Lyon's San Diego office for Brobeck Phleger & Harrison LLP. In 2001, after merger talks with Jones Day Reavis & Pogue fell through, several more senior partners in L.A. and Irvine left. In late July 2002, the entire office in New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of left for Proskauer Rose LLP. |
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