A Top Rhode Island Law Firm, Duffy & Sweeney, Merges

A Top Rhode Island Law Firm, Duffy & Sweeney, Merges

One of Rhode Island’s leading law firms, Duffy & Sweeney, is merging.

Stevens & Lee and Duffy & Sweeney Ltd. have joined forces, making Providence, Rhode Island-based Duffy & Sweeney Stevens & Lee’s 16th office.

Now, it is its gateway to serving clients in New England.

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The Providence office of the merged firms will be known as "Duffy & Sweeney, a division of Stevens & Lee,” announced the firms jointly.

 

Merger in Focus

Stevens & Lee is a 200-plus lawyer full-service law firm representing clients throughout the Mid-Atlantic, New England and across the country from 16 offices in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New York, Rhode Island, Delaware and Florida. 

“Our clients and our people are at the heart of every decision we make. For 30 years, Duffy & Sweeney has been a trusted Rhode Island and southern New England institution, and this merger with Stevens & Lee ensures we have the platform, resources and reach to continue to provide exceptional service to our clients for many years to come,” said Duffy & Sweeney Founding Partner and Shareholder Michael F. Sweeney, who discussed the merger with GoLocal.

In the interview with Sweeney, he said spoke to the motivated the firm to move forward with this merger.

"We are in our 30th year and post-COVID, we want to grow," he said. "We want to service our client base and this [checked] all the boxes."

"Stevens and Lee was looking for a New England addition to their platform, so it just worked out culturally well and it secures the future in terms of clients, people, and staff," Sweeney added.

 

Mid-Market Focus

“So our whole team is staying. We are the New England division of Stevens and Lee and our name will be Duffy and Sweeney, a division of Stevens and Lee," said Sweeney.  "Our rates are not changing. Their focus and our focus are on mid-market business, family-owned, smaller institutions. We're not trying to be big law," said Sweeney.

"Big Law” has been the megamergers amongst major law firms which have created entities with 1,000 or more lawyers and equally high hourly rates.

Currently, Duffy and Sweeney has about 20 lawyers and paralegals, who will be joining Stevens & Lee who features about 200 attorneys and an additional 200 staffers.

"In New England, they have a Boston office, and it's currently not staffed with lawyers. They own an investment bank, and the bankers are there,” added Sweeney, of joining forces with Stevens & Lee.

Sweeney says the symmetry between the firms works exceptionally well in the region, and that clients have been notified and all seem "excited" about the additional resources and rates remaining the same.

Additional partners weighed in on the merger. 

“As our practice continues to expand in New England and beyond as a division of Stevens & Lee, we’re pleased to have found a trusted partner who shares our commitment to strategic growth and to sustaining the outstanding culture we have built with our team,” said Robert M. Duffy, Duffy & Sweeney Founding Partner and Shareholder.

“Duffy & Sweeney has an excellent reputation as a top-tier New England transaction and litigation boutique. They are entrepreneurial, have a business-minded approach to the practice of law, and a culture of client service and teamwork that mirrors our own,” said Stevens & Lee President and CEO William P. Thornton, Jr.

“This move is part of our strategic growth plan in the New England market. Duffy & Sweeney has a loyal base of middle market and larger clients and together we will offer a broader range of services creating greater value for the companies we serve," he added. "We know the success we have established in our core Mid-Atlantic market will be replicated by the leadership at Duffy & Sweeney as we expand to southern New England and beyond.”