Area legal partners jump ship as landscape changes - Boston Business Journal:

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A number of the roving partners are switchinhg to firms with deep levelswof expertise, rather than general practice firms that dabble in dozen s of practice areas. “The economy is drivinb partners right now to really look at theie existingclient base, theie potential compensation,” said Judy St. John, a legalo recruiter at Boston-based Hoffman Recruiters LLC. “Partnerse have come off a prettyu healthy yearin ’08, but the predictions for ’099 are much more grim. That’s why they’re exploring and lookinv to see if their existing platformsd are conduciveto growth.
” Earlier this month, Michael Gass left his post as chairmann of the securities, government enforcement and corporate governance practice group at LLP to chaif LLP’s securities litigation group. Edwards Angell has a totapl of 584 lawyers across 12 Choate has a total of207 lawyers, exclusively in Boston. Choate focuses on several key areas including corporate andlife sciences. Gass had been with Edwards where he was asummer associate, for 24 “Choate approached me, and I was very enamored and enthusede by their model of being an extremelty high-quality single office. It’s one firm that has not gone the way ofbeinb big,” said Gass.
“The economy did not play into this move. This was an opportunit y for me to join a firm that I was reallyexiteds about.” Both Choate and Edwards Angellp have held layoffs in recent months. In Choate cut 15 lawyers and 23 non-legal staffers. In March, Edwardx Angell laid off 25 lawyersd and35 non-legal staff. In November, Edwardds Angell also cut 50 non-legal In March Arthur G. Telegen, with an eye towar working from anationakl platform, joined Seyfarth Shaw LLP as a partnee in the firm’s labor and employment department. Telegenm joined from Boston-based Foley Hoag LLP, wheree he had served as chairman of the labor and employment departmenty for more thana decade.
“The fundamental reason I left Foley and came to Seyfartj is that Seyfarth has a very stron gnational practice. Foley is a wonderful but it became harder and harder to expand myclientf base. It’s just that simple,” Telegejn said. In December, Seyfarth Shaw, which has more than 775 attorneys, cut 30 Foley Hoag, which has about 227 lawyers, cut 32 lawyerx and staff in Telegen’s move “had very little to do with thecurrenr economy. I expect Seyfarth to thrive and I expecy Foleyto thrive,” he said. Joshua M.
managing shareholder of the Boston office of the nationa labor and employmentfirm Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewarft PC, left Goulston & Storrs PC, whicn has about 180 lawyers in Boston, in Januaryt so he could work at a nationap firm. Davis said the recentt partner churn is linkedto what’s going on in the economy. particularly lawyers with significant practices, are thinkinh carefully about the fit betweenm what they do and the firm that they arepart of,” Daviw said. “Increasingly there are vast differencexs in the strength of firms inparticular areas.
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