UPDATED at 3:15 pm
Howrey's construction practice appears to be disintegrating with the departure today of 17 lawyers, including both co-chairmen, to Pillsbury Winthrop and Jones Day.
Pillsbury picked up 15 Howrey lawyers, led by star partner John Heisse in San Francisco. Fellow construction practice co-chairman Andrew Ness and another partner move to Jones Day, which in February snagged seven top Howrey construction partners in San Francisco.
All were part of the 40-lawyer marquee construction practice that came to Howrey from Thelen, which dissolved in 2008.
Also today, Ezra Levine, an expert in funds transmission and anti-money laundering regulation, moved to Morrison & Foerster in Washington as senior counsel.
Four Howrey construction partners and five associates will join Pillsbury's Washington office. In addition to Heisse (described by The US Legal 500 as “possibly the number-one construction lawyer of his generation"), Pillsbury’s San Francisco office adds an associate, while the firm’s Los Angeles outpost brings on one partner and two counsel, and the New York office adds an associate.
The partners joining Pillsbury in Washington are David Dekker, who handles complex insurance coverage disputes, construction claims and other commercial matters; Jeffrey Gans, who concentrates on assisting owners and general contractors in resolving construction project disputes; Melissa Lesmes, who focuses on construction claims and insurance coverage issues; and Michael McNamara, a litigator specializing in complex construction and engineering cases.
Gans said the group considered moving to Winston & Strawn, which has reportedly extended offers to three-quarters of Howrey partners. “It’s a fantastic firm, but it didn’t fit for us,” he said.
Instead, he said, the group was drawn to Pillsbury because of its strong energy, infrastructure, project finance and real estate practices, which he called the top four “companion practices” to construction. “It’s a great marriage,” Gans said.
Pillsbury chairman Jim Rishwain in a news release agreed. "These attorneys are a dynamic fit for us, given Pillsbury's industry focus in energy, real estate and project development,” he said, describing the lawyers as “remarkable for their breadth of litigation and arbitration experience.”
Jones Day added Ness and Kevin O'Brien, who are both based in Washington. Ness is the nominee for chairman-elect of the ABA Forum on the Construction Industry, and was formerly managing partner of Thelen's Washington office. He’s served as lead counsel on a wide variety of large construction disputes in federal and state courts, and domestic and international arbitrations.
An experienced trial lawyer, O’Brien has worked on energy projects, water treatment facilities, petrochemical facilities, parking structures, telecommunications facilities, military installations and more.
"It is not often that lawyers of Andy and Kevin's character and exceptional caliber look to make a move, and we are delighted to be adding them to our litigation team. We know they will substantially enhance our litigation, construction, and insurance recovery capabilities in Washington," said Greg Shumaker, partner-in-charge of Jones Day's Washington office, in a written statement.
News of other Howrey departures has come thick and fast in recent days.
Yesterday, Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton announced it had added Howrey corporate partner and firm general counsel Roger Klein, while Washington antitrust partner C. Scott Hataway is moving to Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker.
Also yesterday, Chicago’s Neal, Gerber & Eisenberg announced it had added two insurance litigation partners from Howrey. News also broke that two antitrust partners from Howrey's London office are leaving for Kirkland & Ellis, according to U.K. publication Legal Week, and the head of the London antitrust practice is going to Morrison & Foerster.
Howrey vice chairman Sean Boland could not be immediately reached for comment. Winston & Strawn managing partner Thomas Fitzgerald also could not be reached.
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