Transactions
May 30, 2001
Preston Gates: Riordan Attorney Joins Corporate Department
While many a Riordan & McKinzie lawyer has been spooked into leaving by the firm's merger talks, former Riordan partner Bart Greenberg says its failure to merge gave him reason to scoot.
Greenberg, a high-producing corporate partner in the Costa Mesa office of the 75-lawyer Los Angeles shop, took his practice to the Irvine outpost of Seattle's Preston Gates & Ellis May 1.
He says he had hoped to stick around to see his colleagues join Palo Alto's 460-lawyer, three-state Gray Cary Ware & Freidenrich. Once the talks between Gray Cary and Riordan & McKinzie went kaput, so did his interest in sticking around.
"I didn't want to be with Riordan and watch it crumble," Greenberg says.
He says that failed merger talks tend to be hazardous to a firm's health.
Brass at Riordan & McKinzie and Gray Cary say their firms emerged in fine shape, but sources say neither is likely to try to pair with another firm anytime soon.
Gray Cary chair Terry O'Malley says that a merger could meet his firm's goals for adding sprawl.
"We continue to have a strong interest in the New York, L.A. and Washington, D.C., markets but do not have any serious discussions under way," O'Malley says.
Greenberg says Preston Gates, with 350 lawyers in 11 offices, fulfills his big-firm aspirations.
"I wanted to be part of a larger firm so that I could cross-sell different practice areas," Greenberg says.
He says that Preston Gates has the kind of strong intellectual property group he needs to support his practice.
Greenberg and the six-lawyer Orange County office of Preston Gates found each other with the help of Provident Professional Services recruiter John Childers.
Staff Writer
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