BRADENTON, Fla. — Edwards & Angell LLP and Palmer & Dodge LLP on Tuesday completed a merger of their firms to officially become Edwards Angell Palmer & Dodge LLP.
The merger, which combines 520 attorneys in nine offices covering more than 20 practice areas, will allow the new firm to concentrate on a number of practice areas, including work in municipal finance, company officials said.
Edwards & Angell, a New England-based firm with 340 attorneys in nine offices, concentrated on practices in the areas of corporate, banking and finance, private equity, complex litigation, and insurance and reinsurance practices, among others.
Palmer & Dodge, a Boston-based firm with 180 attorneys, is known for its public finance practice and concentration on life sciences and technology companies.
Charles DeWitt of Palmer & Dodge and Terrence Finn of Edwards & Angell, who will serve as co-managing partners, said the new firm would concentrate on complex litigation, public and private financing, insurance and reinsurance, intellectual property litigation, private equity, and venture capital.
“Clearly, this has increased the bond counsel reach for both firms,” said Richard Miller, a partner in Edwards & Angell’s West Palm Beach, Fla., office who is now a partner in the combined firm.
Miller is bond counsel for Palm Beach County, which recently has sold nearly $200 million in debt to buy property and build a headquarters for the Scripps Research Institute on Florida’s east coast. The county is expected to sell more debt to build an adjacent biomedical research park.
As bond counsel for the South Florida Water Management District, Miller is working on the structure of a $1.5 billion financing that will be used to accelerate eight projects in the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan.
Thomas Merrill, formerly with Palmer & Dodge, is heading up the public finance practice at the combined firm.
Palmer & Dodge was the 16th-ranked bond counsel in 2004, serving on 149 bond deals worth $4.6 billion, according to The Bond Buyer’s 2005 Yearbook. The firm also was the 14th-ranked underwriters’ counsel having served on 27 transactions worth over $2.7 billion. As disclosure counsel, Palmer & Dodge was ranked 42d, working on only two deals worth $195 million.
On the top 50 short-term bond counsel list, Palmer & Dodge ranked sixth for work on 183 issues worth more than $1.9 billion, while Edwards & Angell ranked 44th on the list for work on three issues worth over $234.9 million.
Edwards Angell Palmer & Dodge is based in Boston. The firm also has offices in Providence, R.I.; Hartford and Stamford, Conn.; New York City; Short Hills, N.J.; Wilmington, Del.; and Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
