The firm of Holme Roberts & Owen have announced plans to add an office in Phoenix. This will make the firms 7th office in the US, and its 9th worldwide. The Phoenix arm of Jennings, Strouss & Salmon PLC will lose 5 attorneys to this office, Janet Betts, the soon-to-be managing partner at Holme Roberts & Owen, Glenn Bacal, Joseph Kruchek, Christine Meis McAuliffe, and Robyn Nordin Stowell.
Source: www.bizjournals.com

Stinson Morrison Hecker has announced that two new attorneys will be joining its office in Phoenix, Arizona. Anda L. Lincoln is an associate in the general-business practice who attended Lewis & Clark Law School. Susan W. Ng is a business litigation associate who attended Arizona State University.
Source: www.azcentral.com

Phoenix-based Lewis & Roca is merging with Nevada firm Beckley Singleton. The firm will continue keep the name Lewis & Roca, and will be one of the largest in Nevada, with 57 attorneys practicing in the state and 200 attorneys firm wide. Fifteen shareholders of Beckley Singleton will join Lewis and Roca as partners, two attorneys will join as of counsel, and the remaining 17 attorneys will be associates. Lewis & Roca has offices in Nevada, Arizona, and New Mexico.
Source: www.nylawyer.com

Phoenix has become the next hotspot of legal expansion. Several large national firms are entering the market there, taking advantage of the thriving hospitality, real estate, construction, aerospace and electronics industries. As the fifth largest city in the U.S., Phoenix has the fastest growing population of any major U.S. city. Some of the firms that have opened in Phoenix include Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal, DLA Piper, Ford & Harrison, and Ballard Spahr Andrews & Ingersoll. The entrance of these firms into the market has created pressure on the smaller local firms; Squire, Sanders & Dempsey and Fennemore Craig, for example, have lost several attorneys to incoming national firms. In fact, some long-standing Phoenix firms have actually been losing lawyers for the past five or six years. For those new firms coming into the market, they will find that it is not so easy to break into. The legal community is very tight knit, and it is not certain that the economy will be able to sustain a major push from other firms.
Source: www.law.com

After acquiring two new litigation partners from Squire Sanders & Dempsey, DLA Piper has announced the opening of a Phoenix office. The two partners, Mark Nadeau and Cindy Ricketts, will oversee the new office and be joined by four associates and two paralegals. The Phoenix office is DLA Piper’s 63rd; clearly in a period of growth, the firm also has plans to open in Oman and Munich.
Source: www.legalweek.com

Chicago-based firm, Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal, is looking to expand through lateral hiring. Key to the plan is Kara Baysinger, the firm’s newly appointed lateral acquisition partner, and a lateral hire to the firm herself. Developed by longtime chairman Duane Quaini, Sonnenschein’s strategic plan involves reaching $1.4 million in profits per equity partner by 2008 (from the current $800,000). The firm’s goal of growth will primarily be achieved through lateral recruiting. Demonstrated by the May 2006 acquisition of Phoenix powerhouse Richard Ross, the firm will not shy away from even opening offices in unlikely places in order to gain lawyers with large and valuable practices.
Source: www.law.com

Ballard Spahr Andrews & Ingersoll recently gained a new partner in both its Washington, D.C. and Phoenix offices. Michael Vincent Hodge, the director of D.C.’s revenue bond program, joined the firm’s public finance department and will also work in real estate. Until joining Ballard, Hodge was also the CEO for planning and economic development with the district’s deputy mayor’s office. In Phoenix, John DiTullio joined the team as the head of that office’s zoning and land use practice. Previously a shareholder at Gallagher & Kennedy, DiTullio is also a certified city planner.
Source: www.nylawyer.com

Ballard Spahr Andrews & Ingersoll has opened its 10th office in Bethesda, Maryland. This comes after recent moves into both Phoenix and Las Vegas. To enter the new market, Ballard Spahr was able to recruit four attorneys from local firm Linowes & Blocher, with three taking the job as partners and the fourth as of counsel. The new practice will focus initially on real estate.
Source: www.nylawyer.com

The salary hikes seen on the East and West Coasts earlier this year are starting to find their way to the central U.S., albeit in proportion to local markets. Denver-based Holme Roberts has given a 17% raise to its first-years, taking annual wages from $90,000 up to $110,000. The firm cites both local and national competition as reasons for the increase. Phoenix-based Snell & Wilmer, with 196 attorneys in the city, has also increased first-year salaries to $110,000. Thomas Stewart, managing partner of Kansas City firm Lathrop & Gage, has seen an increase in first-year salaries to $95,000 at his firm. In his opinion, though, the high cost of these first-year associates has made the market for second to fourth year laterals an appealing and truly competitive place. Source:www.law.com

Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal has opened an office in Phoenix through the acquisition of three Squire, Sanders & Dempsey partners. The new office will focus on hotels and the hospitality industry in general.

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