By Gina Passarella
Of the Legal Staff
The new year brought a new firm to Pennsylvania with the merger of Philadelphia-based intellectual property boutique Woodcock Washburn into Am Law 100 firm Baker & Hostetler. The two firms first confirmed to The Legal in late November reports of their intent to combine. The firms’ respective partnerships voted on the merger in early December and it went into effect yesterday.
“We are pleased at how seamlessly our two firms came together to complete our combination, and excited by the substantial range of scientific and technology knowledge and experience that Woodcock Washburn has collectively brought into the firm,” Baker & Hostetler Chairman Steven Kestner said in a statement. “The combination will also help us better serve clients in several key markets nationally.”
All but two of the 68 lawyers of Woodcock Washburn, with offices in Philadelphia, Seattle and Atlanta, merged into Baker & Hostetler, creating a combined firm of about 900 lawyers with 14 offices across the country. Of the two attorneys who didn’t join, one retired and one was of counsel at Woodcock Washburn’s Seattle office.
Woodcock Washburn policy committee member Joseph Lucci became partner in charge of the Baker & Hostetler Philadelphia office and his partner Steven Rocci took a seat on the new firm’s policy committee.
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