The nation's third largest labor and employment firm, Ogletree Deakins Nash Smoak & Stewart, said Wednesday that it would open a Philadelphia office Jan. 1 by acquiring four-lawyer Simon Moran.
Founding partners Barry Simon and Christopher Moran enter the firm as partners, Susan O'Neill as of counsel and Dara Penn Newman as an associate.
Simon Moran represents employers in the Philadelphia area, defending wrongful discharge and employment discrimination claims, handling labor arbitrations and injunction proceedings and advising employers on the proper procedures for hiring, counseling and terminating employees.
Barry Simon said the firm handles more employment work than labor. The firm has represented local clients including Abington Memorial Hospital.
Simon spent 25 years with Schnader Harrison Segal & Lewis before starting Simon Moran in 1996. He said the firm has enough space at its 1600 Market offices to execute the growth plan Ogletree Deakins desires.
In 1977, Ogletree Deakins began practicing as a 16-lawyer firm out of offices in Greenville, S.C., and Atlanta. It has 350 lawyers spread over 28 offices and claims to represent half of the Fortune 50 companies in the United States.
Gray Geddie, managing shareholder of Ogletree Deakins, said, "We needed a presence in Philadelphia to expand our national reach."
San Francisco's Littler Mendelson, the nation's largest labor and employment firm, entered the Philadelphia market in 2001 by taking on 10 lawyers from Buchanan Ingersoll.
Email This Page!