On december 1st Thelen, one of San Francisco's most venerable law firms and until very recently one of America's 100 biggest, will cease to exist. At the end of 2007 the firm announced annual revenues of $345m, and a profit per partner of $805,000-barely 4% less than in the very lucrative year of 2006, and following a merger that had nearly doubled its size. Its demise will come just three days after the dissolution of Heller Ehrman, another giant San Francisco law firm. During the 20th century, these two firms handled the legal work that underpinned the construction of such tangible marvels as the Hoover Dam and the Golden Gate Bridge.rnIt is not supposed to be like this for lawyers, even during the worst of downturns. Though neither Thelen nor Heller can in fairness blame their woes on the economy alone, these days the bleeding is visible throughout the "AmLaw 200", the firms deemed by the American Lawyer, an industry journal, to be America's biggest 200 by revenue.
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