Tripp Scott Adds 6-Lawyer May Meacham Law Firm
May, Meacham & Davell will combine with Fort Lauderdale-based Tripp Scott on Dec. 1.
November 27, 2017 at 07:05 PM
3 minute read
May, Meacham & Davell, a six-lawyer Florida firm founded in 1992, will combine with Fort Lauderdale-based Tripp Scott on Dec. 1.
The move will give Tripp Scott more than 60 lawyers and make it a major player in the charter school industry, representing such clients as Charter Schools of Excellence, Florida Coalition of Charter Schools, Charter Schools USA, Red Apple Development and Florida Alliance of Charter Schools. Charter Schools USA alone manages 90 charter schools across seven states.
Both firms work with schools, owners and management companies on transactions, financings, school operations and legislation, according to Tripp Scott chief executive officer Edward Pozzuoli. And the merger will strengthen the firm's offerings, he said.
“Those things bring our charter school expertise to a level that's unrivaled,” Pozzuoli said.
In addition to charter schools, May Meacham brings Tripp Scott a significant number of clients in business, construction, real estate and banking, including Jamaica Broilers Group, Skanska USA Building and Balfour Beatty Construction, said name partner Robert Meacham.
The two firms also had clients in common, including Moss & Associates, Hill York Service Corp. and SunTrust.
May Meacham name partner Bill Davell said the merger appealed to both firms because it will enable the lawyers to provide a broader spectrum of services to clients. The move will also allow the firms to retain work they would otherwise refer out to other lawyers.
May Meacham, for instance, did not have an employment law practice or a full land-use practice, so it had to refer that work to outside firms on a fairly regular basis. Tripp Scott has lawyers who specialize in those areas, but it did not have anyone who handled construction litigation, which May Meacham did offer.
“We like being a regional law firm with influence throughout the state,” said Tripp Scott chief operating officer Paul Lopez. “This is probably the most significant group addition we've ever made. That was huge for us.”
Lopez said the firm in the past has chosen to grow organically — one lawyer at a time — rather than gobble up smaller firms. But in this case, the lawyers at both firms had known each other for years and had similar office cultures, so the decision to join forces came naturally once the conversation began.
The idea of joining forces came up during an October business breakfast when May Meacham's Davell was chatting with Tripp Scott director Edward Curtis. Within days, the firms had a handshake deal.
Davell and Meacham said that over the years, their firm declined offers from large firms outside of the area. In those cases, the goal of the larger firm was to acquire a client base in a growing area. In this case, however, May Meacham saw the move as a merger of like entities that wish to grow their practices.
“This merger provides resources to our clients that we could not provide otherwise,” Meacham said.
This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.
To view this content, please continue to their sites.
Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
NOT FOR REPRINT
© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
You Might Like
View AllMiami’s Arbitration Week Aims To Cement City’s Status as Dispute Destination
3 minute readFlorida-Based Law Firms Start to Lag, As New York Takes a Bigger Piece of Deals
3 minute readFowler White Burnett Opens Jacksonville Office Focused on Transportation Practice
3 minute readChicago Midsize Firm Will Combine With Miami Boutique To Form Antitrust Powerhouse
3 minute readTrending Stories
Who Got The Work
Michael G. Bongiorno, Andrew Scott Dulberg and Elizabeth E. Driscoll from Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr have stepped in to represent Symbotic Inc., an A.I.-enabled technology platform that focuses on increasing supply chain efficiency, and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The case, filed Oct. 2 in Massachusetts District Court by the Brown Law Firm on behalf of Stephen Austen, accuses certain officers and directors of misleading investors in regard to Symbotic's potential for margin growth by failing to disclose that the company was not equipped to timely deploy its systems or manage expenses through project delays. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton, is 1:24-cv-12522, Austen v. Cohen et al.
Who Got The Work
Edmund Polubinski and Marie Killmond of Davis Polk & Wardwell have entered appearances for data platform software development company MongoDB and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The action, filed Oct. 7 in New York Southern District Court by the Brown Law Firm, accuses the company's directors and/or officers of falsely expressing confidence in the company’s restructuring of its sales incentive plan and downplaying the severity of decreases in its upfront commitments. The case is 1:24-cv-07594, Roy v. Ittycheria et al.
Who Got The Work
Amy O. Bruchs and Kurt F. Ellison of Michael Best & Friedrich have entered appearances for Epic Systems Corp. in a pending employment discrimination lawsuit. The suit was filed Sept. 7 in Wisconsin Western District Court by Levine Eisberner LLC and Siri & Glimstad on behalf of a project manager who claims that he was wrongfully terminated after applying for a religious exemption to the defendant's COVID-19 vaccine mandate. The case, assigned to U.S. Magistrate Judge Anita Marie Boor, is 3:24-cv-00630, Secker, Nathan v. Epic Systems Corporation.
Who Got The Work
David X. Sullivan, Thomas J. Finn and Gregory A. Hall from McCarter & English have entered appearances for Sunrun Installation Services in a pending civil rights lawsuit. The complaint was filed Sept. 4 in Connecticut District Court by attorney Robert M. Berke on behalf of former employee George Edward Steins, who was arrested and charged with employing an unregistered home improvement salesperson. The complaint alleges that had Sunrun informed the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection that the plaintiff's employment had ended in 2017 and that he no longer held Sunrun's home improvement contractor license, he would not have been hit with charges, which were dismissed in May 2024. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Jeffrey A. Meyer, is 3:24-cv-01423, Steins v. Sunrun, Inc. et al.
Who Got The Work
Greenberg Traurig shareholder Joshua L. Raskin has entered an appearance for boohoo.com UK Ltd. in a pending patent infringement lawsuit. The suit, filed Sept. 3 in Texas Eastern District Court by Rozier Hardt McDonough on behalf of Alto Dynamics, asserts five patents related to an online shopping platform. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Rodney Gilstrap, is 2:24-cv-00719, Alto Dynamics, LLC v. boohoo.com UK Limited.
Featured Firms
Law Offices of Gary Martin Hays & Associates, P.C.
(470) 294-1674
Law Offices of Mark E. Salomone
(857) 444-6468
Smith & Hassler
(713) 739-1250