Former office of Witherspoon Kelley closing in Spokane

In a match that apparently wasn’t made in heaven, a law office is shuttering in downtown Spokane after a merger didn’t work out.

In November 2022, principals from Boise-based Hawley Troxell announced that they had acquired and would be joining the attorneys from the 140-year-old Spokane firm Witherspoon Kelley.

Just over a year later, officials announced they will be closing the Spokane office in the U.S. Bank building, at 422 W. Riverside Ave., at the end of this week.

“We began the year (2023) with a lot of optimism and feelings that our practices were very complimentary to each other,” said Tom Mortell, comanaging partner with Hawley Troxell. “We were two firms deeply committed to their communities. We felt like it was a great fit.”

But cracks quickly emerged, mostly regarding how the offices were managed, he said.

“During the course of a year, we noticed some differences in philosophy,” Mortell said. “We worked hard in the second half of 2023 to bridge those differences. But we never got there.”

The team in Boise made it known that it did not intend to change how it managed the firm, Mortell said.

“That led to an exodus. It snowballed from there. It got to a point where we decided to close the Spokane office,” he said.

The 2022 merger joined about 70 Hawley Troxell attorneys located in Boise, Coeur d’Alene, Idaho Falls and Pocatello, Idaho, to about 30 Witherspoon Kelley attorneys located in Spokane, Yakima and Coeur d’Alene.

While the Spokane office is closing, with most of the 22 attorneys going elsewhere, Hawley Troxell will continue to have six attorneys in Coeur d’Alene and four attorneys in Yakima. Clients from both offices will continue to be represented.

Mortell declined to specify what he meant by “philosophical differences” that led to the exodus.

“There are a lot of different views on how to run a law firm,” Mortell said.

“We were really determined to stick with it. We had a vigorous debate. We treated each other with the utmost civility … but we did disagree on the business terms.”