Hope is mixed with sorrow at Townsend and Townsend and Crew.
Current and former lawyers at the San Francisco intellectual property boutique say their firm’s merger with Kilpatrick Stockton gives Townsend what it’s been looking for: the size and heft to go after bigger IP cases in more locations. On the other hand, the merger, effective Jan. 1, 2011, ends Townsend’s 150 years of independent operation.