J walter thompson merge

By Dan Walters, CALmatters | PUBLISHED: July 12, 2018 at 6:15 am | UPDATED: July 12, 2018 at 6:16 am California has had no shortage of boondoggles – projects or programs that cost taxpayers oodles of money but never produced their promised benefits. The boondoggle syndrome has been especially evident in countless state government “information technology” projects that soaked up hundreds of millions of dollars on the promise of greater efficiency but never worked. The project to join the northern and southern halves of the state with a high-speed train system has all the earmarks of a boondoggle. While construction is under way on some track in the San Joaquin Valley, ending in an orchard near Fowler, the High-Speed Rail Authority acknowledges, more or less, that it has no firm source of funds to extend the line to a population center. Senate Bill 1029, which passed the Senate in May and is now pending in the Assembly, is the latest incarnation of a rather shameful … [Read more...] about Walters: California has its share of embarrassing boondoggles

By Dan Walters, CALmatters | PUBLISHED: April 12, 2018 at 4:59 am | UPDATED: April 12, 2018 at 5:01 am Reality may finally be catching up with the vision – or pipedream – of a 200-mph train connecting California’s northern and southern regions. A few weeks ago, the High-Speed Rail Authority released its latest “business plan” that was supposed to tell Californians how the brief stretch of track now being constructed in the San Joaquin Valley can grow into a system stretching from San Francisco and Sacramento in the north to Los Angeles and San Diego in the south. While the latest version of the plan, drafted by the latest of several management teams, appears to be more realistic about cost and construction schedules than its predecessors, it’s still sorely deficient, as its official reviewers pointed out last week during a legislative hearing. After a decade-plus of cogitation, they said, the state still doesn’t have a complete scenario for … [Read more...] about Walters: New high-speed rail plan: Experts see ‘little prospect’ one part will ever work

Although law firm mergers were down significantly in 2010, compared to 2009 and 2008, an upswing at the end of the year suggests that the urge to merge may surge in 2011, an Altman Weil survey says.Only 39 law firm engagements were announced in 2010, down from 53 in 2009 and 70 in 2008. But 15 of the 2010 wedding announcements came in the final quarter of the year, reports the Legal Intelligencer in an article reprinted in New York Lawyer (reg. req.).Already, the 2011 wedding bells have begun ringing with the melding of Detroit-based Dickinson Wright and 25-lawyer Aylesworth firm in Toronto, notes the Am Law Daily.One wedding that won’t take place, however, is a once-discussed merger of Reed Smith and Thompson & Knight. Still expressing admiration for each other in glowing terms, the two firms announced today that they have called off merger discussions before taking a partnership vote.“Both firms are coming off record years in terms of profitability, but we cannot get … [Read more...] about Amidst Reported Surge in Urge to Merge, Reed Smith and Thompson & Knight Disengage

A small Chicago firm is merging with a larger St. Louis law shop, creating a new midsize firm in Chicago and strengthening the St. Louis firm’s hand against a competitor that had already established a significant presence in the nation’s Second City.FagelHaber, with a 40-attorney roster headed by partners in their sixties, is joining with St. Louis-based Thompson Coburn, reports the Chicago Tribune. The two have complementary areas of expertise, says Tom Minogue, who chairs the St. Louis firm: FagelHaber is known for its transactional work, while Thompson Coburn is stronger in business litigation and intellectual property.The merger is expected to be complete by the end of this summer. Rival St. Louis-based law firm Bryan Cave established a Chicago office six years ago. … [Read more...] about Midwest Firms Merge, Up Ante to 330 Attorneys

As Daniel A. Neff sees it, Dec. 15, 2004, was the day the planets aligned, the heavens opened and corporate deals began falling like manna from the skies.“Dec. 15 was a magical day,” says Neff, who is managing partner of New York City based Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz. “The Sprint/Nextel deal was announced, and Johnson & Johnson and Guidant. Symantec announced on the 16th it would buy Veritas.” And five days later, Exelon said it would buy Public Service Enterprise Group, Neff says.The deals, worth $36 billion, $25.4 billion, $13.5 billion and $12 billion, respectively, were all pretty well received, he says. And that was just the beginning.January saw the announcement of even larger blockbuster mergers, including some household names. Procter & Gamble bought Gillette, and SBC bought AT&T. These corporate strategic deals led the rebounding market in mergers and acquisitions, which had languished for two years.Indeed, the year 2004 marked a … [Read more...] about Signs Say Merge Ahead