[ News Article ]
Duane Morris' Construction Practice Picks Up Three Reed Smith Partners
By Gina Passarella
May 18, 2007
The Legal Intelligencer
In an effort to expand its construction litigation practice firmwide, Duane Morris has added three partners to the group in its Pittsburgh office.
John Tedder joined most recently, following partners Albert Bates, Jr. and Edward Gentilcore, who made the move in mid-April.
The group left Reed Smith's construction practice - now at 23 lawyers - for a practice almost double the size at Duane Morris, which has 43 lawyers firmwide.
Bates said the opportunity to grow Duane Morris' Pittsburgh office and expand its construction practice was an opportunity he didn't want to pass up.
"I was optimistic about the geographic footprint of the construction practice at Duane Morris," he said.
The group has a broader geographic reach than Reed Smith, he said.
Reed Smith's 23 construction attorneys are spread out across their offices in Pennsylvania, Virginia, California and England. Duane Morris' construction group Chairman Robert A. Prentice said the firm has attorneys from that group in at least 12 of its offices, with the highest concentration in Philadelphia and San Francisco, followed by Pittsburgh and Chicago.
Reed Smith's Pittsburgh office Managing Partner James J. Barnes said his firm has a strong construction practice. He said the split was amicable and the three partners just felt Duane Morris provided a better opportunity.
When asked whether Reed Smith decided prior to their departure not to expand its construction practice or add any additional equity partners, Barnes said that was not the case.
"There's no de-emphasis on the practice," he said, adding that the firm would look to add construction attorneys.
When Duane Morris approached the group about the move, it was an opportunity that seemed to have long-term potential, Tedder said. The firm had a commitment to grow the group not only where it currently practices but nationally and internationally as well, he said.
Prentice created a subgroup within his practice that is charged with identifying areas that the group will need to concentrate on in the next five years.
Nuclear power and international arbitration are the two biggest targets so far. He said the practice group isn't as interested in the regulatory aspect of the nuclear work, but the representation of builders, designers and owners of nuclear power plants.
He said another aspect of that focus is on computer modeling, which is used as part of the design process of these plants. Prentice said some of the firm's attorneys help draft contracts for use of these designs. The computer-modeling component of the construction practice is an area Prentice said he thinks will "blossom" in the next five to 10 years.
Bates, who focuses his practice on international arbitration, said the group is looking to represent industrial factories, power plants and other energy producers.
Duane Morris recently formed a new practice group, the nuclear power group, which combines its existing construction and energy practices, Prentice said.
The focus on energy and nuclear power has Prentice looking to Houston as one of the firm's target markets for growth of the construction practice. None of the firm's nine attorneys in Houston are in the practice group, he said.
Prentice is also looking to grow the practice in New York City and Miami. He said southern Florida is a good jumping-off point for work in Central and South America.
"We're really poised to take advantage of where the firm is going, which is Singapore, Vietnam and London," Prentice said.
Duane Morris opened offices in Singapore and Vietnam earlier this year.
Tedder said he anticipates a couple of clients following the group over to Duane Morris, but those details haven't all been worked out yet.
Bates, Gentilcore and Tedder were all part of a larger construction group that moved to Reed Smith in 1999 from Babst Calland Clements & Zomnir.
Lori Carpenter of Carpenter Legal Search said she hasn't noticed an uptick in construction practices in the Steel City lately.
"There are a handful of lawyers who do it, and do it well in Pittsburgh," she said. "So everybody's been vying for that talent."
Maura McAnney of McAnney Esposito & Kraybill Associates said Duane Morris has been growing its Pittsburgh office through laterals from other large firms and it isn't looking to stop now.
She said the firm might be attractive to some attorneys because the smaller office offers a small-firm feel with a large-firm platform. She said the office has a reputation for practice development support.
This article originally appeared in The Legal Intelligencer and is republished here with permission from law.com.