One of the most venerable names in the Pittsburgh legal community disappears with the close of May. Clark Hill Thorp Reed, the city’s 10th largest firm, will enter June as Clark Hill.
Detroit-based Clark Hill PLC and Thorp Reed & Armstrong LLP merged in May 2013 but kept the combined name for a transitional period. Launched in 1895, Thorp Reed was one of the city’s oldest firms and for decades has ranked among the 10 largest.
“What we’ve learned over the past year is that it really isn’t that relevant what our name is,” Jeff Conn, the office’s partner-in-charge. “The (combined) name was a little unwieldy, so we thought, why not just have a shorter, more effective name from a marketing standpoint.”
The Pittsburgh office has not lost lawyers post-merger, a rare occurrence in the legal world. Some 65 of the Clark Hill’s 325 lawyers work downtown.
“I can’t exactly say why but I have a theory,” Conn said. “It’s exciting to be part of a bigger firm with a larger platform and have expertise in specialized areas and services we didn’t have in the past. It’s nice to tap into that. Things are going well.”