The expected exodus of Altheimer & Gray’s US practice has kicked off with Perkins Coie, Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal and Neal Gerber & Eisenberg becoming the first US rivals to secure large partner teams from the disintegrating firm’s Chicago base.

Perkins Coie, which only launched its 18-lawyer Chicago branch last year, has taken eight partners from Altheimers, handing the Seattle-based firm local M&A, tax, IP and real estate capability.