Partner: New LeClairRyan Office is 'Like Tyler Cooper on Steroids'
The venerable Connecticut law firm of Tyler Cooper & Alcorn is reportedly winding down its affairs, after separate factions earlier this month joined competing law firms looking to establish offices in the state.
But practicing under another firm’s flag is like “Tyler Cooper on steroids,” one former partner tells the Connecticut Law Tribune.
“We could probably do any type of transaction now, and that wasn’t always the case with Tyler Cooper,” says Richard “Deke” Bowerman. The former co-chair of Tyler Cooper’s litigation department, he now heads the New Haven office of 300-attorney LeClairRyan, which is headquartered in Richmond, Va.
Located in Tyler Cooper’s former space, the New Haven office is comprised, at least for now, of nine former Tyler Cooper lawyers. However, rapid expansion is likely, according to the legal publication.
Similarly, a 24-lawyer contingent of Tyler Cooper lawyers in Hartford, Conn., has now established a local presence for Hinckley Allen & Snyder in the same offices at which they formerly practiced under a different law firm sign. The 150-attorney firm, which is based in Providence, R.I., is smaller than LeClairRyan, but has a bigger Connecticut contingent, the Law Tribune notes. And, like LeClairRyan, it, too, could likely expand—probably in the southwestern portion of the state, closer to New York City.
Legal consultant Peter Giuliani says he expected more such moves over the summer, the legal publication reports. Several firms, he says, are “considering a pan-New England strategy,” establishing offices stretching from Portland, Maine, to southwestern Connecticut.
Earlier coverage:
ABAJournal.com: “25 Tyler Cooper Lawyers Will Open New Hinckley Allen Office in Hartford, Conn.”
ABAJournal.com: “Tyler Cooper is Likely to Close as New Group Leaves for LeClairRyan”
