Lobbying powerhouse Squire Patton Boggs has announced it is merging with California-based Carroll, Burdick & McDonough. According to the press release, “The combination will create the world’s premier product quality, brand protection and compliance practice, joining together Squire Patton Boggs’ leading global platform of over 1,500 lawyers spanning 45 offices in 21 countries in the Americas, Asia Pacific, Europe and the Middle East, with Carroll Burdick, a complex litigation and products risk management powerhouse with over 50 lawyers on three continents.” Carroll Burdick has offices in Böblingen, Germany, Hong Kong and Los Angeles.
Politico reports that on the public policy front, cars are key to the merger between the two firms. In a statement issued by Squire Patton Boggs Global Chairman Mark Ruehlmann, he said, “The combination will allow us to enhance substantially our presence in the automotive industry at a time when automobiles are approaching an industry-defining and transformative moment — the widespread deployment of ‘smart cars. Global regulatory scrutiny of the automotive industry will surely grow more intense.”
In last year’s Quarter 4 lobbying disclosures Squire Patton Boggs ranked 5th in terms of lobbying revenue, bringing in $5.44M. Recently the firm’s Joseph LeBaron, the former ambassador, registered to lobby the State Department to use the Sunrise Estate Development for housing embassy personnel in Abuja, Nigeria.
