Blank Rome Welcomes More than 100 Attorneys from Dickstein Shapiro

Blank Rome LLP is pleased to announce that more than 100 attorneys and additional staff from Dickstein Shapiro LLP’s New York and Washington, D.C., offices have joined the Firm.

As a result of this deal, Blank Rome offers its combined client base expanded and enhanced capabilities. The Firm now has more than 620 attorneys across 14 offices; a more robust presence in Washington, D.C., that is more than triple its prior size and includes prominent insurance coverage and government contracts practices; an expanded, leading intellectual property group, both in terms of size and experience; and greater strategic depth in other core areas, including corporate and finance, real estate, and litigation.

“It is amazing to think that just 15 years ago, Blank Rome was primarily a Philadelphia law firm,” said Alan J. Hoffman, Blank Rome’s Chairman and Managing Partner. “In line with our current strategic plan, this is the latest in a robust series of targeted lateral hires, acquisitions, and combinations that our Firm has successfully completed in recent years. As Blank Rome celebrates its 70^th anniversary, we are excited to help our clients tackle the full range of their most critical legal challenges now and for decades to come.”

“We have long admired Blank Rome’s deliberate and steady evolution, and its commitment to delivering top-level service to its clients,” said James Kelly, the new Chairman of Blank Rome’s Washington, D.C., office and former Chairman of Dickstein Shapiro. “The group of attorneys and professionals joining Blank Rome are proud of the success we have had in serving our clients and building premier, market-leading practices. We are excited to continue serving clients together with our new colleagues at Blank Rome.”

Mr. Hoffman added, “Over the past several weeks, a number of us at Blank Rome have had the pleasure of spending time getting to know our new partners and colleagues on both a professional and personal level. Jim and I knew early on that this was an outstanding opportunity to bring our teams together. The partners in the group have an impressive average of more than 20 years with Dickstein Shapiro and represent the core team that formed the firm and made its Washington, D.C., office among the very best in the District. There was intense competition for this fine group of attorneys, for good reason. We are delighted to welcome the team to our Firm and look forward to working with them.”

With this transaction, Blank Rome adds more than 90 attorneys in Washington, D.C., and 13 in New York. These attorneys hail from practice groups that comprise Dickstein Shapiro’s core strengths: government contracts, intellectual property, insurance coverage, corporate and finance, real estate, complex litigation, and dispute resolution. A complete list of the new Blank Rome attorneys is available at www.blankrome.com/growth.

As Blank Rome’s institutional clients have evolved, the Firm has seen a tremendous increase in the complexity and sophistication of the matters with which these clients contend. The Firm has acted deliberately to strengthen its sophisticated regional and national practices and develop new competencies in areas of critical importance to its longstanding client base. Each practice group joining from Dickstein Shapiro addresses a strategic imperative for Blank Rome’s growth or adds greater depth to an existing core strength.

• Dickstein Shapiro’s preeminent government contractsteam will become a new practice group at Blank Rome, led by David Nadler. The group represents federal, state, and local government contractors in a wide range of industries, including defense, healthcare, professional services, logistics, and information technology.
• Insurance coveragewill also become a new practice group at Blank Rome, led by James Murray. The top-ranked policyholder practice includes a deep bench of attorneys with 30+ years of experience developing specialized solutions for a wide range of industries and policy types.
• The intellectual property attorneys joining the Blank Rome team have represented the world’s most innovative and dynamic companies, including Toshiba, Samsung, and SAP. Dickstein Shapiro’s Jeffrey Sherwoodwill serve as co-practice group leader of Blank Rome’s group. Along with its June 2015 combination with Wong Cabello, which added 23 intellectual property attorneys to its Houston office, Blank Rome’s IP team now numbers more than 80, placing it among the largest IP practices in the United States.
• The litigators joining from Dickstein Shapiro further strengthen Bank Rome’s high-profile litigationoffering, as well as add sophisticated trial counsel for regulatory and other administrative hearings.
• The corporate and finance groupadds to Blank Rome’s historic strength in corporate structuring, governance, finance, and transactions for corporate and private equity clients.

Blank Rome will consolidate its Washington, D.C., presence to Dickstein Shapiro’s office at 1825 Eye Street NW, in the near future.

Blank Rome established its Washington, D.C., office in 1998 by merging with Wigman, Cohen, Leitner & Myers, an intellectual property firm. Additional mergers and lateral hires added leading maritime, white collar, and government relations capabilities to the office. The Firm has 150 professionals in Washington, D.C., including the Dickstein Shapiro attorneys and members of its wholly-owned subsidiary, Blank Rome Government Relations LLC. Blank Rome grew its New York office in a similar fashion, starting with its merger with Tenzer Greenblatt in 2000. The New York office now has 150 attorneys.

To learn more, visit www.blankrome.com/growth.

About Blank Rome LLP

With over 600 attorneys serving clients around the globe, Blank Rome represents businesses and organizations ranging from Fortune 500 companies to start-up entities. Founded in 1946, Blank Rome advises clients on all aspects of their businesses, including commercial and corporate litigation; consumer finance; corporate, M&A, and securities; environmental, energy, and natural resources; finance, restructuring, and bankruptcy; government contracts; insurance coverage; intellectual property and technology; labor and employment; maritime and international trade; matrimonial; products liability, mass torts, and insurance; political law and policy; real estate; tax, benefits, and private client; and white collar defense and investigations. Blank Rome also represents pro bono clients in a wide variety of cases and matters. For additional information, visit www.blankrome.com.