Reed Smith has swooped to land a 55-lawyer team from rival US firm Anderson Kill & Olick, writes the Legal Intelligencer.
The team, whose move is effective from 1 February, represents almost half the total fee earners at 120-attorney Anderson Kill and includes several members of the firm's executive management team, including former president and chief executive Jeffrey Glatzer. Twenty-five join Reed Smith as partners, three join as counsel and 27 as associates.
Reed Smith was previously reported to have been in merger discussions with the firm but would confirm only that it was interested in growing in
A spokesman for the firm later said the number of departing attorneys was "fluid" but added that at least two-thirds of the firm's lawyers planned to stay.
Reed Smith said in a statement it would gain additional expertise in the insurance recovery practice as well as bankruptcy and commercial litigation. The firm said it would also gain a larger creditor-side bankruptcy practice, with an emphasis on creditor committee work to complement Reed Smith's bankruptcy and restructuring group.
Reed Smith managing partner Gregory Jordan said the addition of the team would bring in approximately $40m (£20.5m) in annual revenues for the expansive US national. He admitted that conflicts had put an end to discussions on the possibility of a full-scale merger, which began in mid-2007.
The acquisition follows on the heels of Reed Smith's merger at the start of the year with the Hong Kong arm of legacy City outfit Richards Butler, with which it merged in 2007 alongside Chicago's Sachnoff & Weaver.
In a statement, Anderson Kill said it would restructure its core practices to focus on insurance recovery work.
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