Plaintiffs firm Motley Rice has closed its Atlanta office, which was launched in February 2006 by four securities litigators who’d broken off from Chitwood Harley Harnes, a rival securities litigation firm.

The four local partners, Lauren S. Antonino, James M. Evangelista, Stuart J. Guber and David J. Worley, are in the process of leaving the South Carolina-based firm because they want to stay in Atlanta, said Worley.