After months of discussion and planning, Philadelphia-based Drinker Biddle & Reath and Chicago-based Gardner Carton & Douglas have recently announced that the two firms will merge. Taking effect on Jan. 1, 2007, this merger will create a firm with 651 lawyers and 26 other professionals across 12 offices. After the combination, the firm will have offices in three of the five biggest markets for bankruptcy filings: New York, Delaware and Chicago, and will have a combined gross revenue of about $350 million.
Source: www.nylawyer.com

Several firms in New York have recently acquired new partners and/or promoted associates to partner. Paul M. Kaplan, an antitrust counselor and litigator, has joined Bryan Cave as a partner, two criminal defense attorneys from Buchanan Ingersoll joined Carter Ledyard & Milburn as partners. Four lawyers at Morrison Cohen will be promoted on Jan. 1, and at Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal, Denise Tormey was named managing partner in NY.
Source: www.nylawyer.com

Margaret B. Brivanlou, a patent prosecution specialist who focuses on the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries, has left Jones Day. She joined Jones Day when that firm acquired most of the lawyers of now-defunct IP boutique Pennie & Edmonds in 2003. Ms. Brivanlou joins the NY team of King & Spaulding, the Atlanta-based firm with almost 200 lawyers in its New York office and over 800 worldwide.
Source: www.nylawyers.com

Fulbright & Jaworski has gained two new litigators from Winston & Strawn. Daniel R. Murdock and Mr. Smith, both from Winston & Strawn, join the NY firm with expectations to focus on commercial litigation, anti-trust, white-collar, and securities regulatory matters. Fulbright & Jaworski employs about 1,000 lawyers around the country, with around 130 in New York.
Source: www.nylawyers.com

New Jersey firm Pitney Hardin and Connecticut-based Day, Berry & Howard are set to merge as of the beginning of 2007. The combined firm will have a significant East Coast presence, with approximately 400 attorneys in offices located in New York, Washington, D.C., and Boston, among others.
Source: www.law.com

Four litigation partners have left White & Case’s New York office for new jobs at Linklaters, shortly to be joined by 12 additional associates. The move will significantly strengthen the firm’s New York litigation practice. Linklaters employs approximately 2,000 attorneys worldwide, about 100 of those in New York.
Source: www.law.com

Virginia and Washington, D.C.-based firm LeClair Ryan has opened a new office in Manhattan. The practice will start with three partners, headed by Paul A. Merolla, and focus on financial services and corporate bankruptcy. LeClair Ryan currently employs 140 lawyers firmwide.
Source: www.leclairryan.com

In a bold move, two private equity attorneys have left King & Spalding’s New York practice, taking on new jobs at Nixon Peabody. Dominick DeChiara and Bradley Vaiana’s lateral move will strengthen Nixon Peabody’s New York practice, which currently employs approximately 100 lawyers.
Source: www.nylawer.com

230-attorney firm White & Williams has grown its New York office through the acquisition of local boutique Koerner Silberberg. The union brings five new lawyers to the firm, two as counsel and three at associate level. White & Williams has eight total offices, including Wilmington and Pittsburgh.
Source: www.nylawyer.com

U.K.-based Clifford Chance has bolstered their New York office by recruiting King and Spalding M&A head John Graham. The spring and summer has seen several such attorney hires by Clifford Chance in an attempt to rebuild their New York practice.
Source: www.legalweek.com