PoGo D.C. MP Says Bryan Cave Union Makes D.C. Office "More Competitive"

Back in March, Powell Goldstein’s Washington managing partner, Alan Parver, was talking about wanting to grow the firm’s D.C. office, which had been hemorrhaging partners.

At the time, it seemed like a lofty ambition. But the recently announced merger between Powell and Bryan Cave will get the job done—sort of. Though it will more than double the current D.C. headcount to more than 100 lawyers come Jan. 1., it will technically be Bryan Cave’s headcount, since part of the deal is that Powell will drop its own name. That doesn’t seem to bother Parver, though, who is pleased about the new opportunities presented by the union: “This is going to enable us to better serve our clients, and I’m sure make us more competitive in the marketplace.”

And there’s no doubt Powell’s Washington office needed the boost. A chunk of its health care practice, a key area for the firm in D.C., departed for Ropes & Gray in January. A number of other lawyers left the office for a variety of firms, including Blank Rome, Seyfarth Shaw, and Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton. Overall, the past few years have been brutal: In 2002, Powell had 110 lawyers in D.C. Today, the office has just 46 attorneys.

Parver says Bryan Cave’s corporate health care practice will provide a good complement to Powell’s more regulatory-focused health care practice. He also notes that both firms have government relations groups that will combine their capabilities in Washington.

Firmwide, the merger will give Bryan Cave more than 1000 lawyers and a presence in Atlanta, where the firm didn’t previously have an office. Parver says he expects that “virtually all” of Powell’s lawyers in D.C. will make the move to Bryan Cave. “There’s been a lot of enthusiasm, so I believe there’s strong support for this in the D.C. office,” says Parver.