SOMERSET, N.J., and HOUSTON, Dec. 4, 2009 – Hildebrandt and Baker Robbins & Company, the two leading consultancies serving the legal market, announced today that they will merge into a single company, effective Jan. 1, 2010. Both are part of the Business of Law group of Thomson Reuters.
Hildebrandt is the premier management consulting firm serving law firms and corporate and governmental law departments throughout the world. Baker Robbins & Company is the leading technology and business process consulting firm for the same market. Together, the new firm – which will be known as Hildebrandt Baker Robbins – will be the largest and most diversified consultancy serving the legal market, with more than 120 consultants working around the world in a broad range of practice areas.
“The combination of Hildebrandt and Baker Robbins & Company is a strategic response to better help clients deal with the significant changes occurring in the legal market, including globalization, pricing challenges and leadership development,” said Hildebrandt founder Brad Hildebrandt. “These changes are increasingly driving the need for holistic solutions that cut across many specialized disciplines and areas of expertise. I look forward to introducing our clients to expanded service offerings that will help them successfully meet those challenges.”
“We are creating a unique consultancy that combines our strengths and will address our clients’ most important business-critical needs with unparalleled expertise and experience in the legal market,” said Brad Robbins, co-founder of Baker Robbins & Company. “For the first time, legal organizations will have access to fully integrated solutions that combine business strategy with technology and business processes. The unique services offered by the new company represent a substantial value-add to clients, especially in such essential areas as strategy, and enhanced use of technology both in the practice of law and as a management tool.”
Hildebrandt and Baker Robbins & Company have collectively worked with 95 of the Global 100 law firms and with 99 of the Am Law 100, as well as numerous mid-sized and regional firms on a wide variety of strategic, structural and technology-related projects. John Conroy, chairman of Baker & McKenzie, a firm that has worked with both Hildebrandt and Baker Robbins & Company over the years, noted, “This combination brings together the intellectual assets and experience of two strong consulting groups in a way that should offer significant benefit to their clients by offering comprehensive approaches to the problems that law firms face, problems that increasingly require broader and more interdisciplinary solutions.”
Chris Kibarian, president of the Business of Law group within Thomson Reuters, Legal, stated, “We’re very excited to provide to the legal market the combined experience and expertise of these two extraordinary consultancies. Merging their services into a single, coordinated business offers an unparalleled opportunity to help our clients successfully manage their firms through the sea changes that are occurring in today’s legal market.”
The newly combined firm will be managed jointly by Brad Robbins, the current CEO of Baker Robbins & Company, and Jim Jones, the current managing director of Hildebrandt, while Brad Hildebrandt will continue in a senior leadership role with a special focus on key client relationships and global initiatives. The company will operate out of its nine principal offices in Chicago; Eagan, Minn.; Houston; London; Los Angeles; New York; San Francisco; Somerset, N.J.; and Washington, D.C. Effective January 1, 2010, the company will also have representative offices in Beijing, Hong Kong and Sydney. The combined company will continue the successful public and private educational offerings of the Hildebrandt Institute, as well as the innovative benchmarking services offered through Peer Monitor, the Hildebrandt Law Department Survey and the Baker Robbins & Company Law Firm IT Staffing & Spending Survey.
About Thomson Reuters
Thomson Reuters is the world’s leading source of intelligent information for businesses and professionals. We combine industry expertise with innovative technology to deliver critical information to leading decision makers in the financial, legal, tax and accounting, scientific, healthcare and media markets, powered by the world’s most trusted news organization. With headquarters in New York and major operations in London and Eagan, Minnesota, Thomson Reuters employs more than 50,000 people in more than 100 countries. For more information, go to www.thomsonreuters.com.
About Hildebrandt
Hildebrandt, a Thomson Reuters business, is a multidisciplinary consulting firm, helping law firms, legal departments and other professional service organizations plan, implement and achieve their management and strategic goals. The company, located in offices within the United States and London, is the undisputed leader in providing strategic advice, managerial guidance and implementation support to these organizations. For more information, visit www.hildebrandt.com.
About Baker Robbins & Company
Baker Robbins & Company, a Thomson Reuters business, is globally recognized as the leading provider of technology and business process solutions aligned to the strategic objectives of law firms as well as corporate and government law departments. They provide solutions in a wide variety of disciplines including Financial & Business Systems; Document, Content, Records and Knowledge Management; Strategic Technology Services; Litigation Consulting Services; Mission Critical Infrastructure; Matter Management, Global e-Billing and IP Management Systems. Founded in 1984, Baker Robbins & Company has offices in the United States and abroad. Visit www.brco.com for more information.
