firm headquartered in Leeds, United Kingdom, with offices in Beijing, Berlin, Birmingham, Bradford, Brussels, Hong Kong, Leeds, Madrid, Manchester, Munich and Paris. Hammonds' origins dated back to the founding of a legal practice in Yorkshire in 1887. Although it was a major firm in Yorkshire and the West Midlands region, it did not open a London office until 1991. In 2000, Hammond Suddards and Birmingham-based Edge Ellison (previously led by Digby Jones, Baron Jones of Birmingham) merged, forming Hammond Suddards Edge, at that time the 11th-largest law firm in the UK. The firm's rapid expansion left it £30 million in debt in the early 2000s and led to a downsizing through 2005. The firm was ranked 20th in the UK by turnover in The Lawyer UK 100 2006, with a turnover of £132 million. Throughout 2005-2009, the firm underwent significant restructuring under the stewardship of Managing Partner Peter Crossley. As of 2009, the partnership consisted of approximately 180 partners and more than 1,000 employees. Hammonds converted to a Limited Liability Partnership in May 2008. Hammonds and Squire, Sanders & Dempsey announced that they were in merger talks in August 2010. The partnerships of both firms voted in favor of a merger in November 2010, and it was completed on January 1, 2011, forming the Squire Sanders Swiss association. The merger with Hammonds added offices in Madrid, Berlin, Paris and Munich to the Squire Sanders network, in addition to significantly boosting its presence in the UK where it previously had only 30 lawyers. London overtook Cleveland as the largest office of the combined firm. The American Lawyer estimated Squire Sanders to be the 24th largest law firm in the world by number of lawyers and 41st by annual revenue as of 2012. Patton Boggs The firm of Patton Boggs was founded in 1962 by James R. Patton, Jr. and joined soon after by George Blow and Thomas Hale Boggs, Jr. It has "participated in the formation of every major multilateral trade agreement considered by Congress." Boggs joined the firm in 1966 after serving as an economist for the Joint Economic Committee and in the executive office of President Lyndon B. Johnson. According to OpenSecrets, Patton Boggs was one of the top law firms contributing to federal candidates during the 2012 election cycle, donating US$1.7 million, 67% to Democrats. By comparison, during that same period Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld donated