The Daily Record and Rochester Business Journal have ranked Barclay Damon as the second-largest law firm in Western New York in their seventh annual “Western New York’s Largest Law Firms” survey. Law firms are ranked by the number of lawyers working in their offices located in Western New York. The survey includes other information, including firm demographics, number of partner-level lawyers, and starting salary for first-year associates.
Also included in this year’s survey publication was an article titled “Law Firm Mergers Surge in 2024, Reflecting Industry Trends,” which quoted several Western New York law firm leaders, including Mark Whitford, managing director of Barclay Damon’s Rochester office. The article notes that merger activity increased in 2024, compared to 2023, with the current level of merger activity projected to result in more completed mergers in 2025.
About mergers in response to succession challenges, Mark said, “You’re seeing huge changes in the individuals and the attorneys who are working on matters. Some firms aren’t positioned for that succession. They’re going to have partners leaving and it’s going to leave holes in their ability to serve clients.”
Mark also noted that Barclay Damon’s approach to mitigating succession issues is by combining with other firms and putting adept people into management positions before their predecessors retire so knowledge is transferred.
Click here to read the full publication.