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Howrey rides into Big Apple on back of litigation boutique deal(Legal Week Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) US intellectual property (IP) leader Howrey is to make its long-awaited New York launch after absorbing local litigation boutique Engel McCarney & Kenney. Name partners Thomas Engel and James McCarney both join Howrey's litigation practice as partners with their six-lawyer team, which focuses on commercial litigation and white-collar crime. However, the third name partner, John Kenney, will not join the firm. The move is significant for the Washington DC-based firm, which plans to expand the office over the next 12 months. Howrey managing partner Robert Ruyak told Legal Week the firm is looking to build the New York outfit to between 30 and 35 lawyers by the end of 2007, focusing on competition, IP, commercial and securities litigation. The news follows the firm's announcement last month that it is to launch in Munich, having hired a five-lawyer team led by respected former Clifford Chance Munich head Joachim Feldges. Other notable Howrey additions this year include Brussels competition partner Marc Reysen and former Brussels managing partner Michael Schutte from Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer. Ruyak said: "We have always had a lot of work in New York but have handled it out of other offices, mainly Washington. It has taken us 18 months to find the right people, but we think we have finally done that." Comparing the New York team with the recent additions to the European practice, he added: "New York has a very different flavour, there is a lot more financial/securities type litigation." As well as its Washington DC hub, the firm has domestic bases in Chicago, Palo Alto, Houston, Irvine, Northern Virginia, Salt Lake City and San Francisco. Copyright 2006 Legal Week Publications |