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.
History
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.
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, 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.
Attorney compensation
One of the main gripes that dissatisfied staff had with H&B was economics and compensation. By the late 1980s and '90s, the real estate sector of the firm had become by far the most lucrative practice.