Lovells and Hogan settle on new name as merger deal draws closer

Lovells and Hogan & Hartson will rebrand as Hogan Lovells if partners at both firms give the go-ahead to the proposed transatlantic merger of equals.

The planned name change was contained within detailed information on the groundbreaking union sent out to partners earlier this month.

The document also revealed that the merged firm will keep two operational centres - one in London and the other in Washington DC - rather than opting for a single base.

Lovells' existing US partners will move into Hogan's current US limited liability partnership (LLP), which will take on the new name, with Hogan's European partners moving into Lovells' LLP, which will also be rebranded.

The combined firm will be led by Lovells managing partner David Harris and Hogan chairman Warren Gorrell (pictured), who will each take on the title of co-chief executive. They will remain in their roles for a four-year term until 2014. Lovells senior partner John Young will become co-chair alongside an as-yet undecided Hogan partner.

The new management structure will be broadly similar to Lovells' system - consisting of a 10-member board plus an international management committee, which will have the same responsibilities as Lovells' current international executive. Both will have equal representation from Lovells and Hogan, while the firm will also keep Lovells' practice group and practice stream structure.

However, Lovells partners will see their remuneration move a step closer to Hogan's, with the lockstep transformed to a merit-based point system, with an added performance-based bonus. Lovells had already been considering a performance-related bonus for partners before the merger talks.

Lovells partners will discuss the tie-up further at their annual partnership conference in Lisbon later this week, with the deal expected to be agreed by mid-December. If approved, the merger is due to go live on 1 May 2010.

Lovells declined to comment, but a spokesperson said: "We have now submitted documents on the proposal to partners. We have previously said that we feel there is a strong business rationale for merger, but we are committed to having discussions about the future of our firm among our partners. As a result we will not be commenting on any of the specifics of the proposed merger at this time."

Lovells on the Legal Week Wiki