Legal News

Montco Litigation Boutique Merges With N.Y. Firm, Moves to Phila.

By Brian Harris

By Zack Needles
Of the Legal Staff

Daller Greenberg & Dietrich, a nine-lawyer Conshohocken-based litigation boutique, will merge with 25-lawyer Rochester, N.Y., litigation firm Ward Norris Heller & Reidy on April 1, the firms have announced .

The new 34-lawyer firm will be called Ward Greenberg Heller & Reidy.

The merger will also mean a relocation to Center City, Philadelphia for Daller Greenberg's attorneys after 16 years in Montgomery County.

Edward A. Greenberg, a founding partner of Daller Greenberg, said his firm and Ward Norris had worked together on several cases over the past 10 years and have some mutual clients.

Thomas S. D'Antonio, a partner at Ward Norris, said the two boutiques began talking last summer about merging as Greenberg was plotting his firm's next move following the retirement of founding partner Morton F. Daller.

D'Antonio said the merger makes sense as the two firms share "a lot of overlapping expertise and similar practice areas" and will reinforce each other's  strengths.

"They have a greater breadth of practice areas and a wealth of talent that really adds to our abilities to serve clients," Greenberg said of Ward Norris.

Both Greenberg and D'Antonio said the merger is not the product of a tough economic year for either firm.

"I know for a fact both firms have had very solid economic performances [over the past year]," D'Antonio said. "Neither of us have the departments or practice areas that tended to be a problem for law firms in the last downturn."

Aside from the Philadelphia and Rochester locations, the new firm will have additional offices in Marlton, N.J., and Wilmington, Del., and both Greenberg and D'Antonio said they expect the merger to enhance their abilities to handle existing clients' litigation matters in all of those states.

Of his firm's move to Philadelphia, Greenberg said being located in the city has numerous advantages over the suburbs.

"I think Philadelphia is a location that has a lot to offer a law firm, particularly a litigation firm," he said. "It?s where you find the resources you need. It?s where young lawyers want to work. It?s where clients want to stay when they?re visiting from out of town and a lot of our work is in Philadelphia."  

Full post as published by The Legal Intelligencer Blog on March 10, 2010 (boomark / email).