Squire Sanders Partners Find New Homes

Tuesday, May 22, 2007

Since February, five shareholders have left the Florida offfices of Squire, Sanders & Dempsey. These partners have raised issues about the firm’s centralized control and what they see as lack of support for their practices. The Cleveland-based firm merged with South Florida’s Steel Hector & Davis in 2005, despite that firm’s financial troubles and partner defections. The attorneys who left the firm claimed that they had wanted to continue work with the newly merged firm, but after a year and a half dealing with unresolved cultural and integration issues, they decided to part ways. Former Steel Hector managing partner Joseph P. Klock, corporate attorney Barry A. Weiss, and lobbyist Jorge Luis Lopez are among those who left. Squire Sanders is recognized for its bond work on behalf of government entities; it was ranked 54 on the AmLaw 100 listing of the nation’s top-grossing firms.
Source: www.law.com

Tags:  Squire Patton Boggs | Miami

Pillsbury Partners Depart for Jones Day

Tuesday, May 22, 2007

Three Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman partners are leaving to join Jones Day’s Irvine, California office. Former co-leader of the litigation practice, Richard Ruben, along with office-managing partner, Darren Cottriel, and Ralph Blakeney will be making the move. Offers have also been made to at least five associates. Ruben said that his decision to leave primarily had to do with Jones Day’s reputation in litigation and committment to growth in California.
Source: www.law.com

Tags:  Jones Day

Stinson Morrison Combines with St. Louis Firm

Tuesday, May 22, 2007

Kansas City-based Stinson Morrison Hecker has acquired St. Louis firm Blumenfeld Kaplan & Sandweiss. The 40-lawyer addition puts Stinson’s St. Louis office at 60 attorneys. Blumenfeld Kaplan was founded in 1950, and today has a general corporate practice. Stinson Morrison has close to 360 attorneys in eight offices.
Source: www.kansascity.com

Tags:  Stinson LLP

Mintz Levin Welcomes Private Equity Lawyer in Boston

Monday, May 21, 2007

Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo welcomes Len Nannarone to the corporate practice in its Boston office. Nannarone is a private equity attorney, and was previously a partner at Greenberg Traurig and an in-house counsel to Intel Capital. Joining Nannarone at Mintz Levin is Matthew McMurdo, also formerly of Greenberg Traurig; McMurdo joins as Of Counsel in the New York office. McMurdo works primarily on general corporate and securities law. Mintz Levin’s Corporate Practice closed more than 200 transactions valuing more than $13.5 billion in 2006.
Source: www.home.businesswire.com

Tags:  Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo, P.C. | New York

Duane Morris Adds Construction Partners in Pittsburgh

Monday, May 21, 2007

Duane Morris has added three partners to its Pittsburgh construction litigation team. Albert Bates and Edward Gentilcore joined mid-April from Reed Smith, and John Tedder recently followed. Duane Morris’ construction practice has 43 attorneys firmwide, compared to Reed Smith’s 23. The practice will be particularly focused on nuclear power and international arbitration; the group’s lawyers will represent the builders, designers, and owners of nuclear power plants. Duane Morris recently formed a nuclear power group by combining its construction and energy practices. The firm is looking to expand this new group in Houston especially, as well as New York and Miami.
Source: www.law.com

Tags:  Duane Morris LLP | Houston

Orrick Gains Real Estate Partner

Monday, May 21, 2007

Alan Pomerantz has joined Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe as a partner in New York. He joins the real estate practice from a private equity real estate investment company, ERE Advisors LLC. Before serving as the Co-CEO and President of ERE, Pomerantz was a partner and head of the real estate practice at Weil, Gotshal & Manges. He has worked with many big-name global private equity investors, investment banks, financial institutions, and real estate developers in large and complex transactions. Orrick’s New York office is the firm’s largest, with over 200 lawyers known for their work in global finance transactions, U.S. litigation, and international dispute resolution. The firm has 18 offices worldwide.
Source: www.lawfuel.com

Tags:  Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP | New York

CA Attorneys Switching Firms

Monday, May 21, 2007

West-coast lawyers are making lateral moves. Hank Roberts left Bingham McCutchen to join Farella Braun & Martel as a partner in the San Francisco business transactions group. In Silicon Valley, Rudy Kim has joined Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal as a partner; he was previously with Irell & Manella. Pepper Hamilton’s Orange County office welcomed Michael Meeks as a partner from Theodora Oringher Miller & Richman.
Source: www.nylawyer.com

Shearman Counsels Depart for Partnership Opportunities Elsewhere

Monday, May 21, 2007

Discontented counsels at Shearman & Sterling’s London office are seeking partnership opportunities elsewhere. Positions for new partners are few and far between in this office, so as a consolation, many have been promoted to counsel. However, of the 15 associates promoted to counsel, nine have left since 2004. Those that departed did so to become partners at such firms as Simmons & Simmons, Dewey Ballantine, Sheppard & Wedderburn. Shearman has also lost partners Adrian Knight and Nigel Thompson to Skadden Arps and Baker Botts, respectively.
Source: www.thelawyer.com

Tags:  Shearman & Sterling LLP

Denver Firms Face Salary Pressure from National Players

Friday, May 18, 2007

Denver firms are feeling pressure to raise starting salaries as national firms with Denver offices apply firmwide raises. Cooley Godward Kronish, Gibson Dunn & Crutcher, Morrison & Foer ster and Hogan & Hartson are four such firms that have raised first-year pay to $160,000 in all U.S. offices. In comparison, the largest local firms such as Holme Roberts & Owen and Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck pay between $105,000 and $110,000; out-of-state firms pay around $120,000. In thousands of dollars in debt, many recent grads seek out high-paying jobs to pay off their loans; local firms know this, hence the pressure to bump up salaries and remain competitive. However, local Denver firms have certain perks such as fewer billable hours requirements and a faster track to partnership, that for some outweigh the astronomical salaries at national firms.
Source: www.denverpost.com

Tags:  Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, LLP | Denver