Ballard Spahr Andrews & Ingersoll has opened its 10th office in Bethesda, Maryland. This comes after recent moves into both Phoenix and Las Vegas. To enter the new market, Ballard Spahr was able to recruit four attorneys from local firm Linowes & Blocher, with three taking the job as partners and the fourth as of counsel. The new practice will focus initially on real estate.
Source: www.nylawyer.com
Hunton & Williams has opened its 18th office in Los Angeles, California. Five litigation partners from local boutique O’Donnell & Mortimer will seed the new office. 10 current Hunton & Williams lawyers will join from other offices to aide in the job. The firm will focus initially on IP and environmental litigation.
Source: www.legalweek.com
Lawyers from Hunton & Williams’ Miami office have been making big moves as of late. In early August, two attorneys took new jobs with Greenberg Trauring. Now three additional partners look to be joining Holland & Knight. The five lawyers were part of Hunton & Williams’ health care and corporate practices.
Source: www.law.com
Former Lovells corporate partner Colin Law will take on a new job with U.S. firm O’Melveny & Myers. The move will bring O’Melveny to 11 partners and 70 attorneys in its Shanghai practice.
Source: www.legalweek.com
Time Warner VP and Assocaite General Counsel Dennis P. Duffy has taken a job with Baker Botts’ Houston office. He will join the firm’s 30 lawyer Labor & Employment practice group as a partner, with the expectation of heading the group shortly.
Source: Texas Lawyer
Kelley Drye & Warren’s New York office has hired two former attorneys for is Labor & Employment practice. Both had left the firm to for in-house jobs, but will return at partner level. McCarter & English has also hired new Labor & Employment partners, luring two shareholders from Greenberg Traurig.
Source: www.nylawyer.com
Major law firms Weil Gotshal & Manges and Wachtell Lipton Rosen & Katz are currently advising on the $22 billion buy-out of Kinder Morgan. Weil Gotshal’s Boston corporate partner James Westra is representing Kinder Morgan, and Wachtell corporate partners Daniel Neff and David Silk are representing the buyer.
Source: www.legalweek.com
In a move to become a full-service firm with a national presence, Silicon Valley-based Cooley Godward will merge with New York’s Kronish Lieb Weiner & Hellman. Effective October 1st, the new entity will be known as Cooley Godward Kronish and employ 550 attorneys firmwide.
Source: www.nylawyer.com
Anticipating an increase in bankruptcy and restructuring cases for 2007, firms across the country are expressing the desire to grow the practice area. This includes many major Texas, New York, and California firms. All report the desire to expand their staffs by at least 10%, particularly with mid-level lateral attorneys.
Source: www.law.com
In an annual survey conducted by Vault.com, New York’s Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz placed number one as the most prestigious law firm in the country. The rest of the top ten was dominated by major NY firms.
1 Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz New York, NY
2 Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP New York, NY
3 Sullivan & Cromwell LLP New York, NY
4 Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP New York, NY
5 Davis Polk & Wardwell New York, NY
6 Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP New York, NY
7 Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen & Hamilton LLP New York, NY
8 Latham & Watkins LLP Los Angeles, CA
9 Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP New York, NY
10 Kirkland & Ellis LLP Chicago, IL
(From Vault.com’s 100 Most Prestigious Firms)
