DLA Piper has entered new territory, finally crossing the border to Latin America. The firm has 62 offices in the U.S., U.K., Europe, Middle East, and Asia, but none in Central or South America. Taking steps to address this regional hole, DLA has launched a Latin America Initiative led by two Dallas lawyers. Partner Michael Santa Maria and counsel Todd Bowers already do cross-border deals; what the initiative will do is to establish a network of “best-friend” firms in Latin America with which DLA will work closely. Using that network, the firm will build its business in the region and eventually be able to select locations for offices. The best-friend firms include six in Mexico, four in Brazil, and three in Argentina.
Source: www.nylawyer.com

Dallas firm Jenkens & Gilchrist has finally reached the end of its rope, as it announced that it would close its last office and cease practicing law by the end of the month. The firm has entered into a nonprosecution agreement with federal prosecutors over its past involvement in illegal tax shelters. Between 1998 and 2003 the firm’s tax shelter practice wrote hundreds of legal opinion letters supporting illegal tax shelters; in return, Jenkens will pay a $76 million civil penalty to the IRS and the firm has agreed to continued cooperation with the investigation. Though at one time the firm had about 600 lawyers in offices nationwide, it has since then lost about two-thirds of the lawyers and has closed a number of offices.
Source: www.law.com

Three corporate and securities lawyers from Winstead in Dallas recently moved to Bracewell & Giuliani. Partners Bruce Cheatham and Brice Tarzwell, and counsel Connie Stamets joined Bracewell’s 400-lawyer corporate and securities practice at the end of February. Cheatham commented that Bracewell’s New York, Washington, and international offices were a draw because of the benefit they hold for his practice. After losing Cheatham, Winstead reorganized, doing away with his former position of corporate and securities section head.
Source: www.law.com

The Dallas office of Bracewell & Giuliani has added two new partners. Bruce A. Cheatham and Brice E. Tarzwell have joined the firm’s corporate and securities practice. Connie S. Stamets has also joined the firm as counsel. All three of the new hires came from the Dallas office of Winstead P.C., where Cheatham was the head of the corporate and securities group. Bracewell & Giuliani has 400 lawyers in New York, Texas, Washington, D.C., Kazakhstan and London.
Source: www.lawfuel.com

Hunton & Williams has raised starting salaries in Charlotte, NC to $145,000. National firms Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft; Dechert; and Mayer, Brown, Rowe & Maw are also reported to have increased to $145,000 or plan to next year. Until now, first-year associates at Hunton’s 43-lawyer Charlotte office were making only $117,5000, making the increase a 23 per cent raise. The firm’s Raleigh, Richmond, DC, LA, Miami, Atlanta, Dallas, Norfolk, and Knoxville offices also now have a starting pay of $145,000. The NY office also increased to match the market rate of $160,000.
Source: www.charlotte.bizjournals.com

Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal plans to open two more offices after the opening of its Menlo Park office in March. The Chicago-firm will open an office in Dallas this month, and by the end of March will have another somewhere in southeastern U.S. Sonnenschein currently has 10 U.S. offices and one in Brussels. The firm is positioned for growth and wants to have more than 1,000 attorneys to increase profits and attract new talent; lateral hiring of lawyers from other firms is the firm’s strategy for increasing its numbers.
Source: www.nylawyer.com

Jenkens & Gilchrist of Dallas, TX is reported to have been talking with Hunton & Williams management about a number of lawyers from Jenkens’ Dallas office relocating to Hunton & Williams’ Dallas office. Currently, Jenkens’ Dallas office houses most of the firm’s lawyers, 140 of 251 attorneys in six cities across the country. One of the largest firms in Texas, Jenkens’ management assures that the firm is talking with several firms, and refuses to confirm rumors of negotiation with Hunton. Hunton & Williams is based out of Richmond, VA, and boasts 875 attorneys in 18 offices worldwide; management from this firm would not comment either.
Source: www.law.com

Texas-based Ogletree Deakins Nash Smoak & Stewart has recently acquired four-attorney Philadelphia firm Simon Moran. Barry Simon and Christopher J. Moran will serve as shareholders in the firm and will continue in their current office space under the name of Ogletree Deakins. Ogletree Deakins was ranked 173rd on the 2006 Am Law 200 chart and reported $119 million in gross revenues for 2006. The firm represents management in all types of employment-related legal matters. After Jan. 1, it will have 350 lawyers located in 28 offices, including Dallas, Phoenix, Miami and Los Angeles. Besides handling labor and employment law matters, the firm also deals with business immigration, employee benefits, and workplace safety and health law.
Source: www.law.com

Ford & Harrison, an Atlanta-based firm that employs about 170 lawyers, has acquired Chicago boutique Matkov Salzman. The move brings 9 new partners to Ford & Harrison, along with the rest of the Chicago firm’s staff. Ford & Harrison focuses its practice on labor and employment and has 16 offices nationwide, including New York, Dallas, Los Angeles, Miami, and Washington, D.C.
Source: www.law.com

Atlanta-based firm Powell Goldstein has lured two partners and 11 other attorneys and paralegals away from Akin Gump’s real estate and finance practice. Kieth Dunsmore, having previously spent 13 years with Powell, will head a new capital markets practice group in D.C. Robin Green, the second of the two partners, is to lead the new Dallas office and will be joined by seven of the former Akin Gump attorneys. The office will focus on real estate, banking, and financial services.
Source: www.law.com