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Deeb Petrakis Co-Founder Joins Duane Morris
By Zack Needles
September 23, 2011
The Legal Intelligencer
Jonathan M. Petrakis, co-founder of Philadelphia-based business law boutique Deeb Petrakis Blum & Murphy, has left to join Duane Morris, prompting his former firm to change its name to Deeb Blum Murphy Frishberg & Markovich.
Petrakis, who started Deeb Petrakis with the late L. Oliver Frey in 1989, joined Duane Morris as a partner Sept. 21, citing a desire to bring large firm resources to his clients and to focus more on growing his business litigation and transactional practice than on managerial duties.
Meanwhile, according to Deeb Blum managing partner Peter J. Deeb, his firm's name change reflects not only Petrakis' departure but also the contributions of shareholders Stephen H. Frishberg and Inez M. Markovich.
Petrakis, whose client base comprises mostly banks and financial institutions, brought with him his "core team" of former Deeb Petrakis partner J. Colin Knisely and associates Ashley A. Federer and Louise Melchor, as well as his longtime assistant.
Knisely joined Duane Morris as a partner, while Federer and Melchor joined as associates.
Petrakis said he and his old friend Matthew A. Taylor, chairman of Duane Morris' trial practice, began talking about the move early this year but didn't have a serious discussion about it until summer.
"It became clear that his practice and his team would benefit greatly from what a large platform Duane Morris could offer his practice," Taylor said.
Petrakis agreed, saying he "can't wait to market the services of this firm to my clients."
At his former firm, which now has 13 lawyers, there were times when the firm was simply too small for certain matters, he said.
"You're certainly limited [at a smaller firm]," Petrakis said. "There were several matters that I had to refer out to Duane Morris, among other firms, for clients in other states and now I don't have to refer anything out."
Petrakis cited national employment law and trademark and patent litigation matters as examples of the types of work he would have previously had to refer out of his firm but will now be able to hand off to his Duane Morris colleagues.
Duane Morris Chairman and CEO John J. Soroko said he believed Petrakis' practice would benefit from the firm's national presence.
"John is someone who I think, in particular, can make very good use of client contacts around the country that were less easy for him to serve at his firm, which, while very good, was located only here in Philadelphia, had a narrower geographic region and a narrower practice reach," he said.
But for Petrakis, that was only part of the allure of Duane Morris.
Petrakis said that while it was difficult to leave the firm he founded after 22 years, he "will not miss" the managerial duties that came with that position.
"I had a lot of management responsibility, a lot of operational responsibility," he said. "For a while that seems natural and it's an acceptable part of being the owner of a small business, but as my practice grew, it really became more and more of a burden."
Petrakis said he's "thrilled" not to have to worry about running a firm anymore.
"As a result, I'll have more time to grow my book of business and serve our clients," he said.
Petrakis said he expects "the majority of my clients and cases will transfer to Duane Morris."
Likewise, Soroko said the firm is "anticipating [Petrakis will bring over] some new clients for whom we could do work, including in areas he couldn't service before."
"He also has relationships with some clients we have some touches on," Soroko added.
Petrakis said that despite moving to a firm roughly 50 times the size of his former firm, his rates will not change, a luxury he attributes to what he called Duane Morris' "entrepreneurial culture."
"They are not stuck in a rate structure," he said. "I am transferring all of my cases here at the rates that I and my team were handling them at Deeb Petrakis."
While many transactional attorneys have struggled in the weak economy of the last few years, Petrakis said his book of business grew during the recession. He credited his practice's versatility with allowing him to adapt to the changing economic climate.
"The core of my practice is representing banks and other financial institutions, and that is on both sides of the business," he said. "We document big commercial loans and that is what I call the front-end work, but the aspect of the business that obviously grew by leaps and bounds [during the recession] is the back end—asset recovery work and creditors' rights work."
As for the future of the newly christened Deeb Blum, Deeb said that while Petrakis "made a lot of valuable contributions," his departure "doesn't change the firm at all."
"We're still the same firm, we still occupy the same niche," he said. "We're still providing the same type of personalized service. You won't notice much difference in the way our logo looks. This is not something that only happens over here; it happens all over the legal community, and when it happens, you deal with it and move on."
When asked about replacing Petrakis and the attorneys that left with him, Deeb said the firm would add more lawyers eventually, but would not rush to do so.
And despite the fact that the firm has now lost both of its founders—Frey left for Saul Ewing in April 2008 and passed away in August 2009—Deeb said its management structure remains unchanged.
"I'm still managing partner of the firm, and how we go about representing our partners is also the same," he said. "Jon, I'm sure, will do well going forward. We go forward pretty much as we always have."
Petrakis said he wished Deeb and everyone else at his former firm "nothing but continued success."
Both Petrakis and Deeb also expressed openness to the idea of referring matters to each other's firms in the future.
This article originally appeared in The Legal Intelligencer and is republished here with permission from law.com.
