Another Merger for LeClairRyan Puts Va. Firm in Calif.
Fast-growing LeClairRyan is merging with another Richmond-based law firm that has two offices in California.
The combination with 50-attorney Wright Robinson Osthimer & Tatum will provide the 270-lawyer merged firm with nine-attorney offices in San Francisco and Los Angeles. Gary LeClair, the firm’s chairman, expects both offices to grow significantly after the March 31 merger, reports the Recorder (sub. req.), in an article reprinted by New York Lawyer (reg. req.)
“Doubling both offices in the next 12 to 24 months would be a reasonable goal for us,” he tells the California legal publication, noting that the firm has already doubled its attorney roster in a new Boston office it acquired last year.
Wright Robinson, which is known for its litigation work, also has offices in Washington, D.C., and Detroit. The firm pioneered a “discovery solutions” practice which involves 120 contract attorneys in the Richmond area, notes the Richmond Times-Dispatch.
“We were one of the first firms in the country to really have a standardized practice group to do this,” partner Mark Yacano of Wright Robinson tells the newspaper. “One of the driving reasons for this merger was the fact that LeClairRyan wanted to partner with us to continue to grow it.”
As discussed in earlier ABAJournal.com posts, LeClairRyan lured 10 lawyers from Donovan Hatem to establish its Boston office last summer. It added a 45-lawyer Northeastern firm in January, Seiden Wayne, that has offices in Newark, N.J., Philadelphia and New York.
