As large firms grow larger, some partners are opting for smaller shops. In the past couple weeks, two partners have left Troutman Pepper Hamilton Sanders for boutiques, on the heels of last July’s merger between Troutman Sanders and Pepper Hamilton that created a 1,200-lawyer firm.

Mark Mandel, a New York securities litigator and legacy Troutman Sanders partner, joined 40-lawyer litigation firm Lewis Baach Kaufmann Middlemiss, while Hope Comisky, who has an employment law and professional responsibility practice in Philadelphia, joined Griesing Law, a women-owned boutique that now has nine lawyers.