Providence, Rhode Island.
For the second time in six months, an Am Law 200 firm is setting up shop in Rhode Island.
McElroy, Deutsch, Mulvaney & Carpenter, one of the largest firms in New Jersey, announced Monday its opening of an office in Providence, Rhode Island, after hiring Locke Lord litigation partner Paul Dwyer Jr.
At Locke Lord, which Dwyer joined in early 2015 as a result of the firm’s merger with Edwards Wildman Palmer, he directed a national litigation management team for Woonsocket, Rhode Island-based CVS Health Corp., the nation’s largest pharmacy benefits manager.
“This was a unique opportunity to open a new office and realize some client synergies [with McElroy Deutsch],” said Dwyer, noting that his new 275-lawyer firm has a competitive hourly rate structure and is receptive to using alternative fee arrangements. “They’re broad and nimble.”
Dwyer specializes in consumer protection cases, general liability and malpractice litigation and products liability matters in the health care space. He said he expects to continue handling work for CVS, while also representing other clients, such as Hamilton Storage Technologies Inc., a Franklin, Massachusetts-based designer of ultra-low temperature facilities for life sciences samples and other products.
Paul Dwyer Jr.
Dwyer said he did not utilize the services of a legal recruiter in moving to McElroy Deutsch because he and the firm were already familiar with one another as a result of their work on behalf of common clients. Most of Dwyer’s cases are in state and federal courts in Rhode Island, Massachusetts and Connecticut, and McElroy Deutsch already has offices in Boston, Hartford, Connecticut, Southport, Connecticut, and New York, where Dwyer is also licensed to practice law. McElroy Deutsch planted its flag in Tampa last summer after bringing aboard another lateral litigator.
In switching firms, Dwyer leaves behind Locke Lord, where he spent the past 19 years at several different legacy firms. Dwyer was previously a partner at Edwards Wildman, a firm formed in 2011 following a combination between Edwards Angell Palmer & Dodge and Chicago-based Wildman, Harrold, Allen & Dixon. Prior to that ill-fated union, Dwyer worked at Providence-based Edwards & Angell, which merged in 2005 with Boston-based Palmer & Dodge to form Edwards Angell Palmer & Dodge.
Dwyer, who started Monday at McElroy Deutsch, is now on the hunt for new office space in Providence. He hopes that within a few months the firm’s office in the city will have between three and five lawyers, although he’s not yet actively started to recruit potential hires.
The legal market in Providence has had a few notable national moves within the past few years. The American Lawyer reported in September on Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani opening an office in Providence after absorbing five-lawyer local firm Bogue Moylan + Marino. Littler Mendelson added four lawyers in Providence after a 2016 raid on Locke Lord. And in late 2013, Maine’s Pierce Atwood opened a Providence office after acquiring commercial and construction litigation boutique Little Bulman Medeiros & Whitney.
