Offit Kurman Adds Five-Lawyer Tax and Estate Boutique

Maryland-based Offit Kurman plans to add five-lawyer tax and estate planning boutique Fineburg Law Associates to its Philadelphia office, effective October 1.

N.Y. Real Estate Boutique Hires Cooley Partners

Four real estate attorneys have jumped from Cooley to 60-lawyer Duval & Stachenfeld in New York, including a former chairman of its real estate practice and a senior partner.

Joining Duval & Stachenfeld are Thomas O'Connor, who served as the head of Cooley's real estate group for six years, and Alan Cohen, a former senior partner in that group. Also moving are Maureen Hannon, who is of counsel, and Michael Estreicher, a senior associate.

O'Connor's departure follows the appointment in January of Antonio Calabrese as chairman of Cooley's real estate practice. Calabrese works from Cooley's Reston, Va., office. O'Connor served as head of the practice until Calabrese's appointment.

Duval & Stachenfeld focuses on real estate law and also serves corporate, litigation and bankruptcy clients. About 50 of the firm's lawyers work on real estate matters. Founding partner Patrick Duval, a transactions lawyer, is a former Latham & Watkins partner, and founder Bruce Stachenfeld, a Harvard Law School graduate, was a partner at Shapiro, Shapses, Block & Stachenfeld. Duval & Stachenfeld was formed in 1997.

Cohen said that his new firm offers a better platform for real estate work, which is not a key focus for Cooley, he said.

"We weren't getting the green light to grow the practice the way we wanted to," he said.

Cooley declined to comment on the attorneys' departures.

O'Connor did not immediately respond to a request for comment. His real estate finance clients have included Starwood Property Trust Inc., Safra Bank of New York, Oritani Bank and Arbor Realty Trust. He previously worked at Weil, Gotshal & Manges.

Cohen, a former partner at Morrison Cohen, has represented Centurian Realty LLC, Squaw Valley Ski Corp. and Caribbean Property Group.

N.Y. Real Estate Boutique Hires Cooley Partners

Four real estate attorneys have jumped from Cooley to 60-lawyer Duval & Stachenfeld in New York, including a former chairman of its real estate practice and a senior partner.

Joining Duval & Stachenfeld are Thomas O'Connor, who served as the head of Cooley's real estate group for six years, and Alan Cohen, a former senior partner in that group. Also moving are Maureen Hannon, who is of counsel, and Michael Estreicher, a senior associate.

O'Connor's departure follows the appointment in January of Antonio Calabrese as chairman of Cooley's real estate practice. Calabrese works from Cooley's Reston, Va., office. O'Connor served as head of the practice until Calabrese's appointment.

Duval & Stachenfeld focuses on real estate law and also serves corporate, litigation and bankruptcy clients. About 50 of the firm's lawyers work on real estate matters. Founding partner Patrick Duval, a transactions lawyer, is a former Latham & Watkins partner, and founder Bruce Stachenfeld, a Harvard Law School graduate, was a partner at Shapiro, Shapses, Block & Stachenfeld. Duval & Stachenfeld was formed in 1997.

Cohen said that his new firm offers a better platform for real estate work, which is not a key focus for Cooley, he said.

"We weren't getting the green light to grow the practice the way we wanted to," he said.

Cooley declined to comment on the attorneys' departures.

O'Connor did not immediately respond to a request for comment. His real estate finance clients have included Starwood Property Trust Inc., Safra Bank of New York, Oritani Bank and Arbor Realty Trust. He previously worked at Weil, Gotshal & Manges.

Cohen, a former partner at Morrison Cohen, has represented Centurian Realty LLC, Squaw Valley Ski Corp. and Caribbean Property Group.

N.Y. Real Estate Boutique Hires Cooley Partners

Four real estate attorneys have jumped from Cooley to 60-lawyer Duval & Stachenfeld in New York, including a former chairman of its real estate practice and a senior partner.

Joining Duval & Stachenfeld are Thomas O'Connor, who served as the head of Cooley's real estate group for six years, and Alan Cohen, a former senior partner in that group. Also moving are Maureen Hannon, who is of counsel, and Michael Estreicher, a senior associate.

O'Connor's departure follows the appointment in January of Antonio Calabrese as chairman of Cooley's real estate practice. Calabrese works from Cooley's Reston, Va., office. O'Connor served as head of the practice until Calabrese's appointment.

Duval & Stachenfeld focuses on real estate law and also serves corporate, litigation and bankruptcy clients. About 50 of the firm's lawyers work on real estate matters. Founding partner Patrick Duval, a transactions lawyer, is a former Latham & Watkins partner, and founder Bruce Stachenfeld, a Harvard Law School graduate, was a partner at Shapiro, Shapses, Block & Stachenfeld. Duval & Stachenfeld was formed in 1997.

Cohen said that his new firm offers a better platform for real estate work, which is not a key focus for Cooley, he said.

"We weren't getting the green light to grow the practice the way we wanted to," he said.

Cooley declined to comment on the attorneys' departures.

O'Connor did not immediately respond to a request for comment. His real estate finance clients have included Starwood Property Trust Inc., Safra Bank of New York, Oritani Bank and Arbor Realty Trust. He previously worked at Weil, Gotshal & Manges.

Cohen, a former partner at Morrison Cohen, has represented Centurian Realty LLC, Squaw Valley Ski Corp. and Caribbean Property Group.

Sedgwick Picks Up Toxic Tort Boutique

Eugene Brown Jr., Sedgwick partner
Image: courtesy photo

After turning away many Big Law suitors, the partners at trial and litigation defense firm Brown Eassa & McLeod are joining Sedgwick.

The Oakland, Calif.-based civil defense firm's eight partners will move into Sedgwick's offices on March 1, bringing a practice that centers on complex mass tort and product liability cases with them. Sedgwick is still determining how many of Brown Eassa's 11 associates will stay on board, a firm spokesman said. Brown Eassa will dissolve later this year.

Having practiced together for more than 20 years, the core partners at Brown Eassa felt that they could have survived on their own, but they were looking for the geographic reach of a larger firm, managing partner Eugene Brown Jr. said. Brown Eassa lawyers are heavily involved in toxic torts litigation in the Gulf Coast, he noted. And the firms' shared roots in the San Francisco Bay Area and emphases on litigation also make for a good match, he added.

"We really liked the idea of having Sedgwick here in San Francisco," he said. "And having known many of their lawyers over time, it just seemed comfortable."

This is not the first time that Brown Eassa's lawyers have jumped to Big Law. In 2011, 14 of the firm's attorneys -- including former name partner Gennaro "Gus" Filice III -- joined King & Spalding, doubling the firm's presence in San Francisco. King & Spalding offered to hire select partners, but Brown and fellow name partner Robert Eassa stayed put because the Am Law 100 player was not willing to take on all of Brown Eassa's talent, Brown told The Recorder in 2011.

This time, more are welcome. Brown and Eassa will practice at Sedgwick's San Francisco office with partners Bruce McLeod, Delia Isvoranu, Troy McMahan, Amee Mikacich and Susan Ogdie, along with a number of associates. Partner Philip Cosgrove and an associate will be based in Sedgwick's Los Angeles office. Retired partner Raymond Bergez will continue to be involved in an informal capacity, Brown said.

Sedgwick first approached Brown Eassa three or four years ago, Brown said, but conversations between the two firms began in earnest about six months ago. In late 2012, Brown Eassa partners voted unanimously to join forces with the firm, Brown said. The associates have responded positively to the decision, he added.

"They're sad to see us move but anxious to join the new firm," Brown said.

Lawyers from Brown Eassa will deepen Sedgwick's work in products liability, class actions, mass torts, environmental law, commercial litigation and labor and employment, Sedgwick chairman Michael Tanenbaum said. The firm has absorbed small shops before, moving into Washington, D.C., in 2011 with 14 lawyers from local firm Wallace Partners and carving out a presence in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., in 2009 with lawyers from Gordon, Hargrove & James.

"The joinder of these lawyers is consistent with our strategic plan, which calls for the deepening of bench strength in our core areas," Tanenbaum said.

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IP Boutique Co-Founder Moves to Kilpatrick

Tina McKeon says joining a larger firm allows her to focus on her practice rather than administration.
John Disney, Daily Report

Tina McKeon has left the intellectual property boutique she helped found for Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton. As a result, McKeon Meunier Carlin & Curfman, which McKeon launched in spring 2010, is now Meunier Carlin & Curfman.

"It's difficult to leave something that you started and put your heart and soul into, but I found that the practice I have would benefit from the depth and infrastructure a large firm can offer," said McKeon, who joined Kilpatrick as a partner last week.

McKeon focuses her patent prosecution and counseling work on life sciences and brings a team of five with her. Three patent agents, Kimberlynn Davis, Lizette Fernandez and Tiffany Thomas, who like McKeon have Ph.D. degrees, will join on Monday, along with a paralegal, Joey Ward, and an assistant, Christy Rutherford.

McKeon declined to name clients, saying they are still in transition. She said she works with a mix of large companies, startups, universities and research institutions.

Although McKeon has practiced patent law since 1996, she said she's never worked in a general practice firm until now. She was a partner at Fish & Richardson, a national IP boutique, before starting McKeon Meunier Carlin & Curfman 2 1/2 years ago with another Fish & Richardson partner, Andrew Meunier.

Christopher Curfman from Ballard Spahr and Gregory Carlin, who had been IP counsel at Edwards Lifesciences in Irvine, Calif., are the other two principals.

McKeon joined Fish & Richardson in 2006 from a local IP boutique, Needle & Rosenberg, which became part of Philadelphia-based general practice firm Ballard Spahr in 2008.

She cited Kilpatrick's "strong IP group and strong reputation both nationally and internationally" and said she was friends with a number of Kilpatrick lawyers, including Jamie Graham, who is the co-leader of Kilpatrick's health and life sciences team, John McDonald and Virginia Taylor, along with John Pratt, who chairs the firm's IP practice, and James Ewing IV.

"It was not a hard choice," said McKeon.

Graham said in a statement that ­McKeon's "well-established reputation within the biotechnology community and her extensive background in highly complex research and litigation" will add to Kilpatrick's "deep bench of biotechnology expertise in Atlanta and across the firm."

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L.A. Bankruptcy Boutique Opens New York Office

By Christine SimmonsAll Articles

New York Law Journal

October 26, 2012

Brand X Pictures, Getty Images

Stutman Treister & Glatt, a Los Angeles bankruptcy boutique, has opened a New York office, led by former partners from Greenberg Traurig and Friedman Kaplan Seiler & Adelman.

Founded in 1948, 31-attorney Stutman Treister said six lawyers have joined the firm to make up its New York office, including shareholders Michael Goldstein and William Weintraub. Weintraub most recently was with Friedman Kaplan, while Goldstein rejoins Stutman after practicing at Greenberg Traurig. Goldstein earlier practiced at Stutman Treister in Los Angeles.

Weintraub has represented debtors and creditors in bankruptcy cases including Dewey & LeBoeuf, Tribune Co., Lyondell Chemical, Madoff Securities and Quigley Co. Goldstein has represented debtors, bondholders, hedge funds and acquirers of distressed assets in corporate bankruptcies.

Three associates from Friedman Kaplan also are joining the New York office, as is a Stutman associate who has been with the firm since 2001.

Isaac Pachulski, a Stutman senior shareholder, said the firm decided to open its first office outside of Los Angeles due to the consistency of large bankruptcy cases in New York. "We would be better equipped to serve clients located in New York that we currently serve, including hedge fund clients," he said. "We can offer more services and we can participate more extensively in bankruptcy cases."

Goldstein said that Stutman had been looking into the possibility of a New York office for some time and found the right group of lawyers this year. The chance to return to Stutman and be a part of its expansion "was a very exciting opportunity," he said.

Beijing Rainmakers Band Together to Launch Antitrust Boutique

A dozen partners from leading Chinese firms have split off to set up their own firm.

The new firm, AnJie Law Firm, will be led by antitrust specialist Zhan Hao, currently an executive committee member at Beijing's Grandall Law Firm, as managing partner. Two other partners will serve on the AnJie's executive committee: former Zhong Lun Law Firm antitrust partner Michael Gu and former Beijing Mingtai Law Firm managing partner He Yu.

The moves were first reported Wednesday by mergermarket's Policy and Regulatory Report.

Gu says AnJie has hired 50 lawyers so far, including 12 partners, and will start operations in November. According to Gu, the new recruits include partners Chen Bin, Cheng Bing and Li Xiuzhe from Zhong Lun; partners Zheng Xilin and Huang Zaizai from Grandall; and some partners from Beijing firm Zhong Lun W&D as well.

Gu says Zhan is expected to bring a further 40 lawyers with him from Grandall.

Antitrust will be a major focus of the new firm. It is a relatively new practice area in China, with a competition law only coming into effect in the country in 2008. But it has quickly become a lucrative practice area for Chinese firms. Though Chinese authorities have only blocked or blessed a handful of major acquisitions in China itself, they also review global mergers for their impact on the China market; international parties on big deals are keen to hire the right lawyers to avoid delays.

In addition to antitrust, Gu says AnJie will advise on joint ventures, insurance, intellectual property and other foreign investment-related work. According to Gu, the firm expects to have a mainly international client base, including financial institutions, insurance companies and investment funds investing in China.

Gu says the firm has plans to expand into Shanghai and Shenzhen, and will also seek out potential alliances and relationships with law firms in the U.S. and the U.K. But he says the firm has no desire to pursue a King & Wood Mallesons-style merger.

Indeed, Gu suggests AnJie partners were looking for the opposite in terms of size and scope. Grandall has almost 600 lawyers while Zhong Lun has almost 500.

"We want to remain a Chinese firm," he says. "All our partners have come together because we want to work in a streamlined environment. The internal structure of our firm is important to us. Large firms often have too loose a management."

HopgoodGanim Acquires Perth Boutique

Brisbane-based law firm HopgoodGanim has acquired Perth's eight-lawyer Q Legal.

Effective November, Q Legal head Kevin Dundo will become a partner at HopgoodGanim, as will current Q Legal partners Nino Odorisio and Robyn Ferguson. According to Q Legal's website, the firm also has five solicitors working in its office.

HopgoodGanim managing partner Bruce Humphrys will continue to lead the combined firm. Perth will be the firm's second office.

The combined firm, which will have 124 lawyers in total, will advise on a wide range of practice areas including mergers and acquisitions, construction and infrastructure, banking and finance, litigation, tax and property.