News: Ungaretti & Harris identifies mergeritis as “affliction” affecting lawyers at recently merged law firms

Chicago, January 7, 2008 — Ungaretti & Harris is running an unusual advertisement in local legal trade, Chicago Lawyer, this month. Not only is it not aimed at prospective clients, it doesn’t even contain the firm’s name.

The trend towards law firm mergers has been a hot topic, with many media stories seeming to question the future of mid-sized firms. Ungaretti & Harris is running the ad to point out the fact that there are still prominent mid-sized firms in Chicago, and that for many attorneys they represent a real alternative to practicing at large firms.

The neon yellow ad calls attention to the unhappiness some lawyers feel after their firms merge, using tongue-in-cheek copy to avoid taking a “gloom and doom” approach. The copy uses a fictional condition called “mergeritis” to describe this unhappiness. The ad directs readers to a website at www.mergeritis.com where they find a letter written by Ungaretti & Harris Managing Partner Thomas M. Fahey.

Mr. Fahey has been vocal about the issue in the past. His Letter to the Editor on the subject appeared in the August issue of Chicago Lawyer and he has been quoted numerous times in local legal and business publications about his thoughts on the future of mid-sized firms.

Fahey noted, “The truth is that consolidation is creating tremendous opportunities for firms like ours. We want to call attention to this so that lawyers know they don’t have to choose between large firms and boutiques.”

Ungaretti & Harris is no stranger to creative and unconventional advertising. It entered the national spotlight in 1995 when it became the first law firm to offer clients a written satisfaction guarantee.