Thelen Down 200 Lawyers; How Many to Go?
Thelen is down nearly 200 lawyers since the merger that created the law firm in 2006, but plenty of high-profile rainmakers remain.
Thelen is currently in merger discussions with Nixon Peabody. If talks fail, other large law firms may hope to pick up some high-profile partners, recruiters told the Recorder. The firm still has some big rainmakers, particularly in the areas of construction law, labor and employment, and commercial litigation, they said.
Richard Holderness, a Seyfarth Shaw partner in San Francisco, said his firm is expanding its construction law practice. “We’re watching Thelen very closely,” he said.
When Thelen Reid & Priest merged with Brown Raysman Millstein Felder & Steiner, the new firm said it would have 630 lawyers, the Recorder story says. Now its website lists only about 435.
More defections are in the works, part of several lawyer losses in recent months that included three name partners. Kenneth Adler will leap to Loeb & Loeb to lead an outsourcing practice, the Recorder reports in a separate story. And Bingham McCutchen is expected to announce Monday that it will acquire four Thelen partners from Washington, D.C., today’s Recorder story says.
