Hill and Barlow

Hill & Barlow was a law firm in Boston, Massachusetts that was dissolved on December 7, 2002 after 106 years of business. Founded in 1899, the firm had been one of the city's oldest and most elite firms, and was also the 12th largest in Boston at the time of its dissolution, employing 138 lawyers. The firm was founded by Arthur D. Hill, known for defending the anarchists Sacco and Vanzetti. Hill began his practice in 1895 and joined forces in 1899 with Robert Homans and Robert Barlow to form Hill & Barlow. Nevertheless, the firm celebrated its 100 year anniversary in 1895.

By 1965, the firm, now called Hill Barlow Goodale & Adams, had 11 partners and 7-8 associates. In this same year, Hill Barlow Goodale & Adams merged with Peabody Koufman & Brewer and changed the firm name to Hill & Barlow. This was the first merger in Boston in 30 years and created one of the largest firms in the city with 31 lawyers.

The firm was incorporated in the early 1990s, meaning that employees could enjoy the tax benefits available to employees of a corporation. By this time, H&B had grown to 123 lawyers and was considered a mid-size firm.

Prior to its dissolution in 2002, Hill & Barlow attempted to prevent liquidation by focussing more on individual practice groups and cutting back on staff.

A group representing authors and movie producers were the first to leave for Fish & Richardson in January 2002. Yet, the final blow to Hill & Barlow occurred on December 6, 2002 when approximately 23 lawyers, one third of the firm, left in 2003 to eventually join Piper Rudnick (now DLA Piper). These 23 individuals primarily comprised the real estate sector of the firm (that generated 30 percent of the firm's revenue), Elliot Surkin, a real estate attorney who served 35 years at the firm commented to the press: "We didn't have confidence in going forward. The firm [Hill & Barlow] should dissolve. I saw it happening over the years. The firm was not operating successfully. Five or 10 years ago it could have done something." Surkin was later announced as managing partner of Piper Rudnick's new Boston office. The sudden departure of the real estate attorneys was catastrophic to Hill and Barlow due to the firm's reputation for representing complex equity and mortgage cases for development projects.

Remaining attorneys reported feeling "blindsided" by the unexpected upheaval, but those departing felt that the planned restructuring was coming too late.