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Three Firms Latest to Absorb Attorneys From Defunct Thelen


Amanda Bronstad
The National Law Journal
November 21, 2008

Three law firms announced plans on Wednesday to add lawyers from Thelen, which plans to dissolve on Dec. 1.

Nine labor and employment lawyers from Thelen, led by partners Linda Husar and Thomas Hill, have announced plans to join Reed Smith's offices in Los Angeles and San Francisco.

Husar was the national chairwoman of Thelen's labor and employment practice group, and Hill was the firm's managing partner of operations and managing partner of the Los Angeles office. Both will join the firm's Los Angeles office.

"Given the situation, we were gratified," Husar said. "We wanted to find a good home for our group. We have practiced for a long time together." Reed Smith, she said, has a great platform and reputation and has numerous resources focused on client services. With the Thelen group, Reed Smith will have more than 100 lawyers in labor and employment.

In addition to Hill and Husar, the other partners joining from Thelen are Deborah Broyles, who was the national chairwoman of the firm's diversity committee, Remy Kessler and Steven Katz. Kessler and Katz will join Reed Smith's Los Angeles office, while Broyles will be located in San Francisco. The group also includes four associates: Christine Kohler, Marytza Reyes, Aundrea Newsome and Stephanie Henderson.

Foley & Lardner's litigation and intellectual property practices are getting a boost with the addition of four former partners and two associates from Thelen.

Barry Felder and two associates have joined Foley's litigation department in the New York office, while Steven J. Rizzi, Catherine McGrath and Robert Camors have joined the firm's intellectual property department. Rizzi and McGrath are based in New York, while Camors is working out of Foley & Lardner's Palo Alto, Calif., office.

Felder is the former co-chairman of Thelen's commercial litigation practice, and was formerly a name partner at Brown Raysman Millstein Felder & Steiner before it merged with Thelen Reid & Priest in 2006. He has a broad range of complex litigation experience.

Rizzi, who worked at Weil Gotshal & Manges before jumping to Thelen, focuses his practice on representing clients in patent litigation and counseling and licensing matters involving electrical, mechanical and computer-related disciplines.

McGrath's practice is focused on complex litigation, including class actions and matters involving technology, patents, trademarks, copyrights and computer software development projects, among other things. She also represents clients at the appellate level of New York state and federal courts.

Litigating patent, trademark, copyright and intellectual property matters is the focus of Camors' practice.

Winston & Strawn also added 19 lawyers from Thelen.

Paul R. Griffin, the former vice chairman of Thelen's antitrust practice group, and Jonathan R. Howden and Robert B. Pringle, both partners in antitrust and commercial litigation, join the San Francisco office. Also in San Francisco, Kit Choy Loke and Dirk R. Mueller, transactional partners focused on the hospitality, private investment and energy industries; Robert L. Nelson Jr., a corporate and energy lawyer; and Richard A. Lapping, a restructuring and bankruptcy partner, have joined the firm. San Francisco also is home for Dean Morehous, a litigator of counsel, and nine associates. The associates are Eva Chan, Marcus Colabianchi, Seagrumn Gilbert, Laura Guillen, Jinjian Huang, Sean Meenan, Takako Morita, Justin Pauls and Jonathan Swartz.

Jarrett L. Fugh, a transactional partner who works with Mueller and Loke, joins the Winston & Strawn's Los Angeles office, and Jonathan S. Bristol, a corporate and real estate partner who works with Nelson, joins in New York.