Two Am Law 100 firms that have landed with a splash in Philadelphia over the last two years, attracted in part by the region’s vibrant life sciences sector, showcase contrasting strategies for stepping into an established market via group hires. Meanwhile a Second Hundred firm that’s been in Philadelphia for a decade offers a third approach, turning to acquisitions of smaller firms to grow its footprint.
Goodwin Procter took a major step forward the city in January 2023 with the help of 14 partners from Troutman Pepper Hamilton & Sanders, launching a ready-made office in the city via that large group acquisition. Barnes & Thornburg, meanwhile, embraced a smaller-scale growth strategy, hand-picking six Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath attorneys—four of them partners—to start Philadelphia and New Jersey offices in September 2022. And Clark Hill, who arrived in Philadelphia via a large merger in 2013, rolled up two smaller firms in the last year.
