Squire Sanders & Dempsey has announced its plan to close its Tallahassee office on October 1^st. The four residing lawyers will transfer to one of Squire's other Florida offices. The firm's decision to close this office rested largely on the loss of Jim Krog, who died in 2008.

Source:  www.law.com 

Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton LLP has landed a group of Labor and Employment partners from Seyfarth Shaw. Amongst the group is Thomas R. Kaufman, co-chair of Seyfarth's national wage/hour class action practice. Joining him are Michael L. Gallion and Gregg A. Fisch. All three join Sheppard's Los Angeles office.

Source:  www.marketwire.com 

Cooley nabbed a Capital Markets partner from Proskauer Rose.  Ian Blumenstein joins Cooley’s New York office.  Prior to joining Proskauer in 2006, Blumenstein practice with Latham & Watkins.

Source:  www.nylj.com

Littler Mendelson P.C. has hired a renowned international employment lawyer in New York.  Philip Berkowitz has joined the firm as a shareholder.  Berkowitz previously practiced with Nixon Peabody.

Source:  www.sunherald.com 

Norton Rose is on an a hiring spree in Asia it seems. The firm hired two lateral Intellectual Property partners for its Hong Kong office. Gigi Cheah and Justin Davidson have joined the firm DLA Piper. The addition of these two partners brings Norton's Hong Kong partner count to 18.

Source:  www.thelawyer.com

Manatt, Phelps & Phillips is taking on four attorneys from the Law Offices of Claudia Wagner LLC, including its namesake. Claudia Wagner joins Manatt's New York office as co-chair of the government practice. October 1^st will be the lateral group's first day.

Source:  www.nylj.com

Jackson Walker has boosted its Houston office with the addition of Shawn R. O'Brien. O'Brian joins the firm's tax group as partner. He received his J.D. from Loyola University School of Law and he received LL.M. From in Taxation from New York University School of Law.

Source:  www.openpr.com

Bracewell & Giuliani plans on launching a new office. The firm will open an office in Seattle next month. It will focus on energy, intellectual property litigation and tax law.

Source:  www.bizjournals.com