Navigating Law Firm Mergers: Communication, Culture and the Marketer’s Influence

My first exposure to a law firm merger was in 2004, long before combinations became as common as they are today. At the time, I was a legal marketing contractor trying to break into the industry, and I accepted an assignment supporting the marketing department of Hale and Dorr as the firm was merging with Wilmer Cutler Pickering. Both firms were highly respected and deeply rooted in their markets. For someone eager to understand the business of law, watching two trusted brands come together felt like stepping behind the curtain at exactly the right moment.

Twenty-one years later — after shepherding hundreds of lateral transitions and supporting two major law firm mergers from the inside — I have a far more nuanced perspective. I’ve experienced both sides of the equation: once as part of the larger partner absorbing another firm, and once as the smaller partner joining a far bigger platform.

Now, as a consultant, I often coach attorneys and business professionals through mergers, helping them understand the business drivers, anticipate cultural shifts and position themselves for opportunity.

What I know for certain is this: mergers are far more than a press release, and they reverberate through every layer of the firm. Done well, they create opportunities for growth, expanded client service and cultural renewal. Done poorly, they introduce confusion or cultural drift. The difference almost always comes down to communication, leadership and a willingness — individually and collectively — to engage with change.

A Tale of Two Mergers: Being the Bigger Partner and the Smaller Partner

Experiencing a merger as the larger firm feels very different from experiencing it as the smaller one. When my firm absorbed a smaller practice, our culture naturally became the default. We had the infrastructure, processes and governance, and the incoming lawyers were trying to learn how things worked at our firm. The challenge for us was to avoid what I call the “dominant partner blind spot”: failing to recognize the anxiety and identity loss that can accompany being acquired.

Years later, when the tables turned, I found myself in the opposite position, joining a firm many times our size. Even as a senior professional, I felt some of the same uncertainty my lawyers expressed: How will we fit in? How will decisions be made? What expectations will change?

What parts of our culture will endure, and what parts will disappear?

Both perspectives taught me that people at every level, from the executive committee to professional staff, want to understand what the change means for them. Culture is not preserved by accident; it is shaped by communication and leadership choices.

How Mergers Affect Firm Culture

Mergers are cultural events long before they are operational ones. Strategically, they signal what a firm idealizes for itself: expanded footprint, industry depth, financial fortification or broader client service. This vision is conceived at the highest levels, and although outcomes don’t always unfold exactly as imagined, the narrative around why the merger is happening provides insight into the firm’s aspirations.

But impacts are uneven. For some, mergers create tremendous opportunity — larger platforms, more diverse client needs and new pathways for specialization or leadership. For others, mergers bring uncertainty. Some roles evolve; some become redundant. Lawyers may worry about internal competition or compensation alignment. Staff may question how new systems or structures will affect their day-to-day work.

The hardest part is merging the invisible infrastructure: the unwritten norms of communication, inclusivity and decision-making. Merging technology systems is a technical project; merging values and behaviors is a human one. And depending on the structure – verein or full merger – true cohesion can take years.

Still, mergers offer a rare chance to rethink identity, strengthen values and intentionally design the kind of workplace the firm wants to be. With thoughtful leadership, mergers can energize a firm and refresh its culture.

Communicating Internally: What Firms Need to Get Right

The most successful mergers I’ve been part of have one thing in common: consistent, human-centered internal communication. Employees can manage uncertainty, but they struggle with silence. Transparent communication – anchored in facts, intention and empathy – goes further than any external rollout.

Effective communication includes:

• Clear messaging about the strategic rationale – not just what is happening, but why.
• Updates on what will change and what will remain the same.
• Opportunities for two-way dialogue, especially for staff.
• Acknowledgment of fear, confusion or fatigue instead of assuming across-the-board enthusiasm.

Leadership credibility is often built or damaged during these moments.

The Legal Marketer’s Role: Leading From Any Seat

Legal marketers sit at a unique intersection within firms: connected to leadership, plugged into practice needs and attuned to staff perspectives. In a merger, this makes you not only a communicator but a cultural translator.

Here’s what legal marketers can do to support their lawyers, their teams and themselves.

1. Understand the business motivation behind the merger.

Is the firm seeking national expansion? Industry specialization? Cross-sell opportunities? Financial stability? Knowing the why helps marketers craft messaging, anticipate client concerns and help lawyers position themselves for growth.

2. Be an ambassador — but also a realist.

Marketers naturally step into the role of champions, but it’s equally important to acknowledge the staff member who feels overlooked or the lawyer who fears losing autonomy. Support people where they are, not where the firm hopes they will be.

3. Lead within your sphere, regardless of title.

Integration requires coordination, creativity and emotional intelligence – all core strengths of seasoned marketing professionals. Whether you oversee a team or not, your ability to bring clarity, reduce friction and facilitate collaboration will be invaluable.

4. Take care of yourself.

Marketers often shoulder enormous merger-related workloads while navigating their own uncertainty. Give yourself the same grace and intentionality you extend to your colleagues.

Final Thoughts

No merger is seamless. They are layered, unpredictable and deeply human. But with transparent communication, thoughtful leadership and a willingness to embrace possibility, mergers can become catalysts for growth – for firms and for the individuals navigating them.