This week Bingham McCutchen acquired 40-lawyer L.A. litigation firm Alschuler Grossman. Name partner and legal powerhouse, Marshall Grossman, had wanted to join up with a national firm for over a year, and discussions finally started in November. Alschuler’s former name partners Stanton Stein and Robert Kahan, on the other hand, did not want to go national, and so on Jan. 1 they left with 35 lawyers to form Dreier, Stein & Kahan. The merger is beneficial for both firms as Bingham was weak in litigation, and Alschuler found itself lacking a corporate componenet when Stein and Kahan departed. Bingham now has more resources for expansion in Southern California; with three acquistions in California over the past five years, the firm is growing significantly in the Sunshine State.
Source: www.law.com
Monthly Archives: May 2007
Carter & Ansley and Smith Moore Join Forces
Atlanta firm Carter & Ansley has joined with North Carolina firm Smith Moore. Thirteen lawyers from Carter & Ansley will join Smith Moore’s Atlanta office, putting its numbers up to 23 in that office. Carter & Ansley’s main practice is representing life, health and disability insurance companies in litigation. The firm represents between 50 and 75 life insurance companies in Georgia and sometimes other states. Smith Moore’s Atlanta branch focuses on health law and litigation. The merger will allow the firms’ lawyers to develop the insurance litigation practice in North Carolina. Smith Moore now has 128 attorneys firmwide, and offices in Atlanta, Greensboro, Raleigh, Wilmington, and Charlotte.
Source: www.law.com
WilmerHale NY Adds Corporate Partner from Proskauer Rose
Brian Margolis of Proskauer Rose will join WilmerHale’s New York office. The corporate partner specializes in equity offerings, including initial public offerings, for companies in the technology, media and life sciences industries. Margolis has been with Proskauer since 2003. WilmerHale now has about 150 of its 1,200 lawyers practicing in New York.
Source: www.law.com
Dreier Launches Matrimonial Practice with Lateral Hire
New York-based Dreier has started a matrimonial practice with the hire of Judith Poller, former partner with Bryan Cave. Poller’s practice deals with a variety of family law matters, including divorce, child custody and support arrangements. It is expected that Poller will work closely with Dreier’s trust and estates affiliate Schlesinger Gannon & Lazetera. 100-lawyer Dreier focuses on litigation, bankruptcy, real estate, employment law and intellectual property.
Source: www.nylawyer.com
Lateral Corporate Partner Joins Andrews Kurth
Richard Kronthal has left Kaye Scholer to join Andrews Kurth in New York. Kronthal joins Andrews Kurth as a partner in its Corporate/Securities group. Kronthal represents domestic and international financial institutions in capital markets transactions, focusing especially on transactions in the energy sector. He also counsels companies focused on emerging technology industries. Andrews Kurth has over 400 lawyers in office around the world.
Source: www.sys-con.com
Sonnenschein Nabs 18 from Kilpatrick; Opens in Charlotte
After hiring an 18-lawyer capital markets team from Kilpatrick Stockton, Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal has opened an office in Charlotte, NC. John Suhr, Jonathan Nugent and James Tucker all joined Sonnenschein as partners, along with counsels Linde Carley and Keith Jones, and 13 associates. The partners, who will be heading Sonnenschein’s capital markets practice, specialize in commercial real estate finance and equity investment by traditional and capital markets lenders. Sonnenschein has been expanding recently, having announced in March plans to open in Silicon Valley; the firm also intends to open in Dallas.
Source: www.legalweek.com
Freshfields Closes in Singapore
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer has finally closed its Singapore office, after announcing intentions to close back in September of 2006. Wanting to focus on China, last week’s departure of China head Douglas Markel gave the firm the needed push to close in Singapore. In China, the firm also has offices in Beijing and Shanghai. The two remaining partners, Bruce Cooper and Yeelong Tan, will relocate to Hong Kong. Closing in Singapore will end Freshfields’ joint venture with Singapore firm Drew & Napier. Much of the firm’s restructuring efforts over the past year have focused on Asia – Paul Ng was promoted to the partnership in Hong Kong, and James Wood was relocated from London to Tokyo.
Source: www.thelawyer.com
Lateral Partners Join Winston & Strawn
Winston & Strawn has hired two new partners from Mayer, Brown, Rowe and Maw for its Chicago office. James J. Junewicz and Delilah B. Flaum have joined the firm’s corporate and litigation practices, respectively. Junewicz was formerly an assistant general counsel for the Securities and Exchange Commission and is recognized for his expertise in Corporate/M&A law. His practice focuses on securities and M&A transactions, and he also advises boards of directors on fiduciary and corporate governance issues. Flaum handles complex commercial and class action litigation, health care regulatory compliance, and government relations matters. She previously was a regional director of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Source: www.home.businesswire.com
Littler Mendelson Faces Competition as Regional Firms Expand
Longtime labor & employment powerhouse, Littler Mendelson, is finally facing some competition from regional firms and boutiques. With 617 lawyers and 41 U.S. offices, Littler is the largest labor & employment firm in the U.S. The San Francisco-based firm has expanded greatly in recent years, adding 13 new offices since the start of 2005. However, other firms are following suite and becoming more national in scope. Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart has added six offices in the last three years; 400-lawyer Jackson Lewis also added six. Two Atlanta-based firms, Fisher & Phillips and Ford & Harrison have pushed beyond the Southeast, together opening more than 12 offices in cities such as Dallas, Minneapolis, Phoenix and Philadelphia. The firms’ expansion is generally a part of a strategy to compete nationally, though most deny that they follow other firm’s into specific markets.
Source: www.nylawyer.com
Saul Ewing Raises Pay for First Years
Saul Ewing is the latest of the Philadelphia firms to increase its starting pay. The firm increased its first-year associate salary from $125,000 to $135,000, effective September 1. The raise will apply to all offices except for Harrisburg, which will go from $115,000 to $125,000. Saul Ewing follows Pepper Hamilton and Drinker Biddle & Reath, who also recently announced a Sep. 1 increase to $145,000.
Source: www.nylawyer.com
