It's been a busy year for Atlanta's big law firms, as they have continued to expand nationally—and in some cases globally—amid an increasingly crowded local market.

The biggest law firm news of the year was a megamerger that transformed one of Atlanta's oldest and largest firms, Sutherland Asbill & Brennan, into a global behemoth with 2,400 lawyers.

Sutherland, a 400-lawyer firm that had kept the same name since 1954, combined with UK-based Eversheds to form Eversheds Sutherland in a bid to expand its client base. With 66 offices worldwide, Eversheds Sutherland was the largest trans-Atlantic tie-up since Norton Rose combined with Fulbright & Jaworski in 2013.

“I think there will be lots of firms that don't prosper, given the consolidation going on,” said Eversheds' Lee Ranson when the merger took effect Feb. 1. Ranson is co-CEO of Eversheds Sutherland with his Sutherland counterpart, Mark Wasserman.

In June, Eversheds Sutherland convened 680 partners and operations staff in London for its first joint partners meeting. Ranson and Wasserman said at the time that the combination—structured as an English company limited by a guarantee that keeps finances separate for the legacy firms—had generated business from new and existing clients that neither firm would have landed separately.

Market Consolidation

North Carolina's largest firm, Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice, which has a large Atlanta office, went from regional to global via a similar combination with UK firm Bond Dickinson, forming Womble Bond Dickinson on Nov. 1.

Womble's Betty Temple, the firm's co-leader with Jonathan Blair from legacy firm Bond Dickinson, said when the combination was announced in June that the unique feature was the union of two middle-market firms with strong regional roots. “There hasn't been a combination like this before. Our big offices are not in New York or London,” she told the Daily Report.

Real estate closing and foreclosure firms are also consolidating. Atlanta-based McCalla Raymer Leibert Pierce in December snapped up the majority of default services firm Buckley Madole—its third acquisition of a default firm in the last year and a half—to gain locations in New York, New Jersey, California and Nevada.

New Firms in Town

Plaintiffs powerhouse Beasley Allen in February staked out an Atlanta office—its first outside of its 75-lawyer base in Montgomery—with automotive product defect specialist Chris Glover leading the charge. The firm worked with Marietta plaintiffs lawyer Lance Cooper, who subsequently became a principal, on high-stakes suits against General Motors over faulty car-ignition suits, which led to a massive vehicle recall by GM and national litigation.

Beasley Allen, along with several other plaintiffs firms, is subletting space at 4200 Northside Parkway from local plaintiffs firm Conley Griggs Partin, making the building a busy hive of litigation.

Meanwhile, two big Am Law 200 firms entered the Atlanta market.

Wilson Elser Moskowitz Edelman & Dicker opened an Atlanta office in March with a six-lawyer team from Gordon & Rees focused on defense litigation. The outpost, led by Jeffrey Melcher, is the first in the Southeast for the 800-lawyer New York-based firm, which ranks No. 109 in the Am Law 200 with 2016 revenue of $303 million. The firm moved into permanent space in Buckhead's One Atlanta Plaza at 950 E. Paces Ferry Road in July.

Adams and Reese—a super-regional Southeastern firm at No. 171 in the Am Law 200 with about 300 lawyers and 2016 revenue of $140.5 million—jumped into the Atlanta market in April with a six-lawyer financial services team from Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz, led by partners Ron Bingham II, Bryan Busch and Matt Norton.

“We've identified a practice area and a lane of traffic where we think we can compete successfully,” the firm's managing partner, Gif Thornton, told the Daily Report. Adams and Reese is also located in Buckhead, in Monarch Tower at 3424 Peachtree Road.

Another Am Law firm, Chicago-based Schiff Hardin, shuttered its Atlanta office after several years of slow attrition, capped by the departure in late 2016 of its local managing partner, former Georgia Supreme Court Justice Leah Ward Sears, for Smith Gambrell & Russell.

Big Lease Deals

Several big firms renewed their leases in 2017. King & Spalding re-upped its lease in Midtown at 1180 Peachtree St., where it had been the anchor tenant since the building opened in 2006. It added another decade to its initial 15-year term last January, extending its occupancy to 2031. Like other firms, King & Spalding downsized—from 416,000 square feet on 17 floors to 320,000 square feet on 11 floors.

In February litigation boutique Bondurant Mixson & Elmore, which is one block west at One Atlantic Center, extended its lease, set to expire in 2018, for another 15 years. The firm occupies the 39th floor with additional space on the 32nd floor. It was the very first tenant 30 years ago for the iconic postmodern office tower designed by Philip Johnson and John Burgee, which quickly became a hub for other law firms migrating north from downtown.

Eversheds Sutherland also renewed its lease in the fall, deciding to stay put at 999 Peachtree St., where it's the anchor tenant. The firm will pare back its space from almost 200,000 square feet to about 175,700 on the 18th through 25th floors of the 28-story building.

Extensive renovations are already underway at King & Spalding and Troutman Sanders, which renewed its lease last year further south at 600 Peachtree St. In a great leap forward, Troutman will become Atlanta's first big firm with same-size offices for partners and associates.

California and Beyond

Meanwhile, a number of the city's largest firms continued to expand nationally, with California a notable destination. Alston & Bird opened a San Francisco office in March, while Smith Gambrell opened offices in Los Angeles, Britain and Germany.

Labor and employment kingpin Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart opened offices in Sacramento, Oklahoma City and Paris, for 52 locations globally. Rival labor and employment firm Constangy, Brooks, Smith & Prophete staked out a California outpost in San Francisco.

Freeman Mathis & Gary sharply boosted its California presence through a merger with Los Angeles-based litigation defense firm Gilbert, Kelly, Crowley & Jennett, gaining offices in San Diego and Sacramento. Freeman Mathis has about 125 lawyers.

Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton, which already has five California offices, focused on Texas instead. The firm opened a Houston office in October with 13 lawyers focused on construction law and litigation from a local firm, Coats Rose, after launching a Dallas office in 2015, which has grown to 27 lawyers.

Litigation firm Hall Booth Smith continued its Southeast expansion with offices in Jacksonville, Florida, and Asheville, North Carolina, giving the firm about 180 lawyers.

New Leaders

Atlanta-based Hawkins Parnell Thackston & Young elected its first leader outside of its local headquarters—Robert Thackston, who operates out of the defense litigation firm's Dallas office. “That my partners were willing to elect someone outside of Atlanta shows we realize we have a national practice now,” Thackston said in July. The 160-lawyer firm has 10 offices.

Am Law 200 firm Polsinelli tapped white-collar litigator Brian McEvoy as its new Atlanta managing partner in October, succeeding Nancy Rafuse, who became chair of Polsinelli's national labor and employment practice.

Kutak Rock, another Am Law 200 firm, made Debra Thompson its new Atlanta leader in November, succeeding David Amsden, who became the firm's national vice chair last year.

King & Spalding re-elected Robert Hays Jr. as chairman for another three-year term, effective Jan. 1—his fifth since becoming the firm's leader in 2006.

In the pro bono world, Sharon Hill, the founding director of Georgia Appleseed Center for Law and Justice, stepped down in November, succeeded by Talley Wells from the Atlanta Legal Aid Society.

The Georgia Legal Services Program's Phyllis Holmen announced her retirement in December after a 43-year career in legal aid. Georgia Legal Services is conducting a national search for a new executive director.

Two Atlanta law schools, Emory University and Georgia State University, both had their longtime deans return to teaching this year. GSU Law named Wendy Hensel its new dean in November, succeeding Steven Kaminshine, and in September Emory Law named faculty member James Hughes Jr. its interim dean, replacing its initial interim pick, retired Alston & Bird partner and Emory Law alumnus Judson Graves. Emory Law is conducting a national search for a new dean following Robert Schapiro's return to teaching when his term ended in July.