Winston Lures Up to 18 Lawyers from N.C. Firm, Opens Charlotte Office
A 1,000-lawyer Chicago-based international firm is opening a Charlotte, N.C., office with six partners lured from a local firm, and expects to bring in a dozen more lawyers from the same firm soon.
Six attorneys from 200-lawyer Kennedy Covington Lobdell & Hickman are to open the new Winston & Strawn office in Charlotte on Monday, and should soon be joined by two partners and 10 associates from the North Carolina firm, reports the National Law Journal (sub. req.) in an article reprinted by New York Lawyer (reg. req.).
The Kennedy firm, which has offices in North and South Carolina, has a group of lawyers whose practice focuses on two of Winston’s major financial clients, Wachovia Corp. and Bank of America Corp., says Thomas Fitzgerald, Winston’s managing partner. He says that his firm expects to focus in Charlotte on corporate finance, as well as securitization, restructuring, private equity and litigation. Winston apparently intends to add other lawyers there, in addition to those from the Kennedy firm, according to the article.
A former Kennedy Covington partner, Dean Warren, will serve as managing partner of Winston’s office in Charlotte. The other five lawyers from his former firm joining him there Monday as partners are David Batty, W. Kent Walker, James Hedrick, Jr., Eric Burke and Rene LeBlanc-Allman.
