Akerman Senterfitt Gets BP Work, Acquires Two Butzel Long Offices
Akerman Senterfitt will be representing BP in Florida litigation over the Gulf oil spill, and it’s bulking up its lawyer roster.
Akerman is acquiring lawyers and employees from two offices of Detroit-based Butzel Long, Crain’s Detroit Business reports. Akerman has hired eight lawyers, five paralegals and eight support staff from Butzel’s offices in Boca Raton and Palm Beach, the story says.
Butzel now has about 190 lawyers, down from about 243 lawyers in early 2009.
Akerman’s Miami partner Jim Miller will head the team handling the Florida BP litigation, according to the Daily Business Review.
A former Akerman lawyer said the contract could be worth tens of millions of dollars to the law firm. “It will keep the firm afloat,” the anonymous lawyer told the publication.
Meanwhile Cameron International, manufacturer of the failed blowout preventer, has hired Greenberg Traurig, and Halliburton Energy Services, which pumped cement at the well, has hired Broad and Cassel, the Business Review says.
