Shearman & Sterling has opened an office in Shanghai, its third in China after Beijing and Hong Kong. The new office will be headed by project finance partner Andrew Ruff. Ruff was previously a partner in the firm’s Hong Kong office, but he relocated to Shanghai last October to prepare for the opening. The Shanghai office also includes five associates, and will focus on project finance, capital markets, and M&A work. Shearman & Sterling has 20 offices worldwide.
Source: www.law.com
Fox Rothschild has grown over the past year by acquiring several small firms ranging in size from two to over 50. In fact, just last week the firm acquired Roseland, NJ-based Goldman & Kramer. Bruce Goldman and Elliot Kramer specialize on tax and estate planning; Fox Rothschild now has more than 30 tax and estate planning attorneys. The firm entered the Roseland market last October by merging with 53-attorney labor and employment boutique Grotta Glassman & Hoffman. Fox Rothschild aims to make its Roseland location a full-service office, and sees Roseland as a valuable market, previously untapped by Philadelphia firms. In January, six-lawyer Young Moriwaki & Greenfader was also acquired by Fox Rothschild.
Source: www.law.com
Jerry Spector, the former head of Blank Rome’s public finance tax law practice, joined Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo’s New York office as a member in the public finance section. Joseph Martini joined Wiggin and Dana as a partner in the white-collar crime practice group; he was previously a federal prosecutor in the Connecticut U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Source: www.nylawyer.com
Midsized Chicago firms are standing firm against the notion that they must merge in order to compete with large national and international firms. Hinshaw & Culbertson; Chapman and Cutler; Schiff Hardin; and Wildman, Harrold, Allen & Dixon are such firms that are confident that they can manage on their own, whether by expanding practice areas, expanding geographically, or taking dissatisfied clients of larger firms. The difficulties of rising expenses such as higher associate salaries and technology costs can put pressure on these midsized firms to seek the support of larger firms. However, others like Schiff Hardin see its smaller size as an advantage when clients want more personal attention.
Source: www.nylawyer.com
Arnold Bressler has once again jumped ship, switching firms for the second time in a year. The former head of the corporate practice at Milberg, Weiss & Bershad, Bressler left Milberg after the firm got indicted last May of paid illegal kickbacks. He joined Epstein, Becker & Green in July, where he became the head of its business law practice. Last week, however, Moses & Singer announced that Bressler had joined as a partner in its corporate practice. Partner Wai Chan and associate Carlos Ramirez also moved to the new firm from Epstein.
Source: www.law.com
The West Coast has seen several lateral moves recently. Four intellectual property associates from Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati’s Silicon Valley office have joined Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe. Richard Welsh has joined Greenberg Traurig as a litigation partner in L.A. from Kirkland & Ellis. McKenna Long & Aldridge welcomed Penny Cobey in L.A.; she joins as an of counsel in the real estate and finance practice.
Source: www.nylawyer.com
UK firm Linklaters has announced increased revenues and profits per partner. The Magic Circle firm reported a 19.9 percent increase in revenues to 1.121 billion pounds ($2.2 billion), and an increase in profits per partner from 1.062 million pounds to 1.294 million. In the last three years, revenue has increased by 57 percent and profits per partner have increased by 108 percent. Managing partner Tony Angel sees the firm’s global expansion as a major player in its financial growth.
Source: www.law.com
One of El Paso, Texas’ larger firms, Delgado, Acosta, Braden and Jones, has broken up. Three of the partners, Alejandro Acosta Jr., Hector Delgado, and John Jones, have become partners with Bickerstaff, Heath, Pollan & Caroom, which changed its name to Bickerstaff, Heath, Delgado & Acosta. The Austin-based firm now has an El Paso office where Acosta and Delgado work; Jones will head the Houston office. Two other lawyers moved to the Austin firm, while eleven of the other lawyers from the El Paso firm have found new jobs or opened their own practices. Paul Braden, the other partner of the old firm, has joined Fulbright & Jaworski as a partner, and will continue to work in El Paso.
Source: www.elpasotimes.com
Atlanta’s King & Spalding has announced an that it will open an office in Charlotte, NC. The firm has already hired two partners from Kennedy Covington, and plans to build the office to about 50 lawyers in a year and a half. King & Spalding is the third national firm to announce expansion to Charlotte in the past few months; Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal and Dewey Ballantine have already opened offices there. King & Spalding has more than 800 lawyers and is ranked in the AmLaw’s Top 100 firms.
Source: www.bizjournals.com
Intellectual property firm, Darby & Darby, has raised its Seattle first-year associates’ salary to $160,000, matching its New York rate. The firm is has about 100 IP professionals, and is among the number of West Coast firms that have recently matched NYC pay rates.
Source: www.nylawyer.com
