History
Nixon Peabody was formed by the 1999 merger of two firms that began practicing more than a century ago: Nixon, Hargrave, Devans & Doyle LLP and Peabody & Brown. Nixon Hargrave was originally a Rochester, New York, firm that had grown to become one of the largest law firms in New York. It had a strong corporate/institutional practice and a nationally recognized public finance practice. Boston-based Peabody & Brown had a nationally recognized syndication practice and was active in middle and high-growth markets.
In 2000, Nixon Peabody merged with Sixbey Friedman Leedom & Ferguson in Northern Virginia, doubling the size of its intellectual property practice.
The firm expanded into California in 2001 through a merger with Lillick & Charles, founded in San Francisco in 1897. Throughout the 20th century, Lillick developed a strong base of international clients in Asia and Europe, and played a prominent role as advisor to many California businesses. Over the years, Lillick’s practice grew to include some of the leading transportation, financial, insurance, and industrial companies in the world.
In December 2002, Nixon Peabody merged with the 150-year-old Boston firm of Hutchins, Wheeler & Dittmar, adding fifty attorneys in the areas of business, litigation, and health services.
In late 2008, as many law firms have collapsed or announced layoffs, Nixon Peabody declared an objective to double the size of the firm in the next three or four years, a move its global head of finance termed “a necessity for our firm.” The firm has said it will hire up to 100 attorneys from the dissolving firm Thelen LLP, and in October took on 25 lawyers in Paris, a move that led to a legal dispute with UK firm Taylor Wessing.
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