Growing Texas-based IP 'super-boutique' plants flag in Philly, plans more East Coast expansion
A growing Texas-based intellectual property “super-boutique” has planted its flag in Philadelphia, opening a new office there with former Blank Rome partner Alfred Zaher and another lawyer who had formerly worked at Blank Rome.
Novak Druce Connolly Bove + Quigg also plans further expansion on the East Coast, following a number of law firm developments in the last few years, according to the Philadelphia Business Journal.
“The Philadelphia market has been of interest to us for some time,” said Gregory Novak, the firm’s chief executive and managing partner of the firm, in a press release. “Philadelphia is a hub of leading biotech and medical innovation that compliments our national practices in these areas, including our growing FDA practice. Attracting Alfred Zaher and his team is the first of what we hope will be many groups to join our Philadelphia office. Our doors are open for clients and high quality individuals or groups that would like to join us and be part of a new state-of-the-art national IP practice.”
The Houston-based boutique, which now has 140 attorneys on its roster, was formed in late 2012 by the merger of Novak Druce + Quigg and Delaware’s Connolly Bove Lodge & Hutz. The Connolly firm became an IP boutique earlier in 2012, after its corporate group exited.
Novak Druce then opened a Boston office in at the outset of 2013 with lawyers from a 7-attorney firm, but lost 13 attorneys from its Wilmington, Delaware, office to Drinker Biddle & Reath earlier this year, as another Philadelphia Business Journal article details.
