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Wednesday, April 07, 2010
Law - "Pittsburgh Law Firm Expands by Adding Family Law Boutique"
Interesting story today from Zack Needles of The Legal Intelligencer. Some quotes:
Lateral hires and law firm acquisitions are generally meant to achieve one of two goals: to bulk up a firm's existing practice or to add a new practice that the firm intends to expand later.But Babst Calland Clements & Zomnir's recent addition of the Law Office of Jennifer Bierly, a two-attorney family law boutique, to its State College, Pa., office falls into neither category.
The Pittsburgh-based, 75-attorney firm doesn't have an existing family law practice and, according to managing shareholder Chester R. "Chip" Babst III, isn't looking to build one.
Instead, the move represented a pure example of seizing a unique business opportunity, Babst said.
"Jennifer is both well-established in the area and also very well-regarded," Babst said. "Even though her practice area is obviously very different from the practice areas we currently engage in, we felt that in the State College market ... it was a good idea from a business standpoint." * * *
Babst said the firm will give Bierly access to a whole new client base.
"We will give her an ability to service clients she previously would not have been able to service," he said.
But when asked whether he envisions building a firmwide family law practice, Babst said he didn't think so.
"We looked at this as really kind of a different opportunity," he said. "We used a different business model in State College than we would in Pittsburgh."
Posted by Marcia Oddi on April 7, 2010 02:57 PM
Posted to General Law Related