Cozen O’Connor confirmed Tuesday that it will now be home to four labor and employment partners from Klett Rooney Lieber & Schorling’s Philadelphia office.Mark J. Foley, Raymond A. Kresge, Andrew J. Rolfes and George A. Voegele Jr. started at the firm Tuesday.
“We were advised there was an opportunity to enter into discussions with the labor group at Klett Rooney,” Cozen O’Connor Chairman Stephen A. Cozen said.According to Cozen, the firm entered into possible merger discussions with Klett Rooney as a whole, not just the labor group. He said, however, that they only reached the very beginning stages and realized that it probably was not a fit. “But we very much wanted to get the labor group, particularly Mark Foley,” Cozen said, adding that the group may bring over a few associates as well. Foley said that he and his group “just felt the opportunities were better at Cozen O’Connor” for their regional base of clients with national needs. He said that he anticipates his clients will follow him to his new firm. “We have had conflicts and those conflicts are certainly part of that decision-making process,” Foley said. One source had said that Kresge had a conflict with his client Rohm & Haas, and that was a big part of his reason to leave the firm. Cozen made it a point to say that Foley was coming in with potential to fill leadership roles in the future. He said that Foley will soon have a leadership position within his practice group, but that is still being worked out between firm president Patrick J. O’Connor and the current practice head, Jeffrey I. Pasek. “This is just another step in the transition that we continue to make in terms of transition in leadership of the future,” he said of bringing on Foley and his group.Frank D’Amore of Attorney Career Catalysts said that Foley is viewed as one of the “stars of the labor and employment bar.” He said he is well connected throughout the state, which has helped him garner a solid practice.
