Bingham, the first firm to offer newly-qualified lawyers a salary of £100k, has been eaten alive by Morgan Lewis.

When Bingham's revenue plunged by over $100 million last year it proposed a merger with fellow US firm Morgan Lewis, probably more to stave off collapse then strengthen its client offering. However the plan began to backfire in September when almost all of the partners in the London office, one of Bingham's most profitable, decided to jump ship for Akin Gump.

Smelling blood in the water, Morgan Lewis decided against a merger and instead "voted to admit" 226 Bingham partners. It also cherry-picked 225 associates as part of the biggest lateral move since Constantine decided Christ might be onto something. The mass migration leaves Bingham a husk of its former self comprising 80 unwanted partners, lots of depressed staff and a filing cabinet.

 
 
Bingham's merger of equals did not go as planned


The fate of BinghamLite is unclear, though there are ominous hints. When RollOnFriday asked the firm what its future held, a spokeswoman said, "I am referring all media inquiries to Morgan Lewis", which did not respond.
 
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