Ridenbaugh Press/Northwest

The big Seattle law firm Preston Gates & Ellis is one of the power players in Seattle.

This is old shoe downtown clout: The oldest big law firm in Seattle, one of the biggest (420 lawyers) and big names – yes, the Gates in the name is Bill’s father, and he was big deal in the Puget Sound well before anyone had heard of Microsoft, and even now cuts a big swath in Washington business and politics. (It does represent Microsoft, too.) The political clout roster would start with former Senator Slade Gorton and go on from there. And they are only the best known of many big figures here.

It has been Seattle owned and based, up to now, but that is changing: At the turn of the year it will merge with an even bigger firm (a little more than twice as big), Kirkpatrick & Lockhart of Pittsburgh. Like Preston Gates, it has offices scattered around the globe. (Informally, the merged firm will be called K&L Gates – notice which name of the Seattle three will be retained.)

Spokesmen maintain that the merger will change virtually nothing at Seattle, other than link it more firmly to the global marketplace; no change of personnel or clientele was indicated. Our interest, though, is that in the power structure of Seattle, there may be a little change. Preston Gates has been an independent, freestanding operation in Seattle, a free agent to an extent, operating as it will; now it will become part of a larger system. How the change will affect it as a business and professional entity is one thing, but we have to imagine it will affect its stance and role in the community, if only in subtle ways. It will be, after all, part of something still bigger, now.