Stinson Morrison merging with Minneapolis law firm

Stinson Morrison Hecker is merging with a Minneapolis law firm to become the 75th largest firm in the United States, the firms’ partners decided over the weekend.

Stinson Morrison will join with Leonard, Street and Deinard of Minneapolis to become Stinson Leonard Street. The combined firm will have 525 attorneys and the merger will become effective Jan. 1. The firms will have a “distributed” headquarters in Minneapolis and Kansas City.

Mark Hinderks, managing partner of Stinson, said his firm has been familiar with Leonard, Street for a number of years and both have similar business cultures. Stinson is the larger of the two, with 325 lawyers. Leonard, Street has 200.

“We have collaborated as a part of a Midwest peer group for more than a decade,” Hinderks said. “As a result, we knew we shared a common business culture and vision, and a strong commitment to our respective communities and clients.”

The combined firm will have offices in 14 cities in the Midwest, Mountain West and the Southwest, and will combine its offices in Washington, D.C. Hinderks and Lowell Stortz will serve as co-managing partners, and Allison Murdock will be the deputy managing partner.

Stinson Morrison Hecker was formed in 2002 with the merger of Stinson Mag & Fizzell and Morrison & Hecker. Leonard, Street and Deinard has been in business in Minneapolis for 91 years.

This story was originally published September 22, 2013 at 9:33 PM with the headline "Stinson Morrison merging with Minneapolis law firm ."