[ News Article ]
Duane Morris Opens Baltimore Office
By Gina Passarella
December 20, 2006
The Legal Intelligencer
Duane Morris has opened a Baltimore office with the addition of three partners and one senior counsel, all formerly of DLA Piper.
The new additions will focus their work in the corporate practice group, handling venture capital and private equity work, mergers and acquisitions and securities law work.
The new partners are Jay G. Cohen, Keli B. Isaacson and George J. Nemphos. Wilbert H. Sirota will join as senior counsel.
The firm said Baltimore was part of a strategic expansion to broaden its services in the mid-Atlantic region.
Chairman Sheldon Bonovitz said a recruiter presented the group to him some time ago.
"My initial reaction was 'Why Baltimore?'" he said.
After taking a look at their practices, Bonovitz said he determined that transactional lawyers were difficult to come by in Washington, D.C., where the firm has a nearly 30-attorney office. He said having that type of practice in Baltimore could expand transactional work down into Washington, Reston, Va., and Columbia, Md.
"This really strengthens our private equity, venture practice and we expect them to be major contributing leaders in the firm in this area," Bonovitz said.
Sirota said the group was not looking to move, but rather a recruiter approached them on the idea and said that Duane Morris was interested. It's a "common ploy" recruiters use, Sirota joked.
He said the group handles a lot of work in the mid-Atlantic region and elsewhere. Nemphos said they were intrigued with the idea of opening an office and impressed with the capabilities of the firm.
"This is a good opportunity for Wil and his colleagues," DLA Piper Baltimore office managing partner Paul A. Tiburzi said through a spokesman. "It makes a lot of sense for them, and we look forward to continuing to collaborate from time to time."
Tiburzi said the group's practice is a better fit at Duane Morris. He said, through the spokesman, that the firm was not concerned about a financial loss from the departure because office revenues are "growing through a focus on more high value work."
Sirota said the aims and desires of his group were more closely aligned with those of Duane Morris.
Bonovitz said the firm will hire three associates to start, but the new office space has room for about 20 lawyers and additional expansion opportunities. He said he would be willing to expand the office into other practice areas besides corporate and transactional work.
Nemphos will serve as the managing partner of the Baltimore office, focusing his practice on angel and venture financing, public offerings of securities, securities law compliance, debt financing and mergers and acquisitions.
Sirota will serve as chairman of the office. He handles transactions involving venture capital, mergers and acquisitions, estate planning and general corporate and tax law.
Cohen focuses his practice on venture capital and private equity investments, domestic and international mergers and acquisitions, and start-up company financing.
Isaacson's practice concentrates on finance and corporate and securities law regarding private and public debt and equity offerings, and venture capital transactions.
Bonovitz said yesterday that the firm has acquired two new partners in its Philadelphia office as well. James E. Brown and Kristin Werner joined the firm as partners from Cozen O'Connor, where they were members of the insurance coverage group.
The additions are evidence of the firm's interest in expanding its Philadelphia office, he said.
Brown and Werner's insurance coverage practice will fit in with the work done by the Hancock Rothert & Bunshoft attorneys who joined Jan. 1, 2006, as well as with some of the firm's New York attorneys, Bonovitz said.
While there hasn't been any official announcement of office openings in either Singapore or Vietnam, as have been rumored, Bonovitz said that both are "realistic possibilities," but nothing definitive has happened yet.
This article originally appeared in The Legal Intelligencer and is republished here with permission from law.com.