A law firm’s collapse is rarely peaceful—instead, they tend to implode, ripped apart by forces they can no longer control.
And so it was for Lundgrens, one moment a respected name in Danish law; the next, a partnership crumbling under economic pressures, shifting client demands, and an unstoppable wave of departures.
The Copenhagen firm found only dead ends while hunting for a merger partner in early 2025. At the time, it was still buzzing with 75 lawyers including 20 partners but by March 1 Lundgrens had disintegrated—its name vanished from office doors, its remaining partners resettled at DLA Piper and other rivals.
The demise of a prestigious firm like Lundgrens is seldom a straightforward tale of business failure. The collapse of a partnership is deeply personal. It’s a quiet unraveling of relationships and the loss of a shared identity in a place where careers are forged and battles fought. And yet, in every closure, there’s a lesson: prestige alone doesn’t guarantee survival—a truth storied firms like legacy Shearman & Sterling may still find difficult to accept.
Lundgrens’ collapse is a sobering reminder of the fragility of law firms. The U.S. is littered with the tombstones of once-prominent partnerships: Howrey; Coudert Brothers; Brobeck, Phleger & Harrison. LeClairRyan's aggressive expansion, high promises to partners, and poor financial management led to its demise in 2019, culminating in bankruptcy with significant debt and unpaid partner contributions.
Bill Brandt, who has worked on several law firm dissolutions, attributes their failures to losing focus on the fundamentals, likening it to a football team neglecting the basics. Dewey & LeBoeuf’s demise still haunts the legal world—and, lately, the German courts—a stark warning of how a partner exodus can turn a setback into a rapid, domino-like collapse.
Most of the Global 200 firms have reached the size where it is difficult to imagine them completely collapsing—the smallest has almost $300 of revenue. But examples of shrinkage and office closures happen almost every week.
