Littler adds 11 lawyers from Locke Lord
Labor and employment powerhouse Littler Mendelson has acquired a team of 11 lawyers from Locke Lord.
In a Monday press release, Littler announced that the 11 lawyers joining the firm are all employment litigators and will be spread out among three of the firm’s offices in the Northeastern part of the United States: Boston, Providence and Newark, New Jersey. The team of laterals consists of three shareholders and eight counsel and is led by Todd Reed, formerly a partner in Locke Lord’s Providence office. All 11 lawyers were part of Edwards Wildman & Palmer when it was acquired by Locke Lord in January 2015.
“We are always looking to expand,” says Littler co-managing director Tom Bender. “We are always looking to acquire new lateral talent that fits our model. If there’s an opportunity to acquire good laterals or if there’s an area of the globe where it’s worthwhile for us to be, then we will take that opportunity.” Bender says that this latest acquisition was a talent-driven move, as opposed to a move to shore up or strengthen a particular practice or geographic footprint. According to him, members of Littler’s Providence office had known and worked with Reed before, and believed Reed and his team would be a good fit for the firm. “They all liked Todd and the way he described the work that he and his group did,” Bender says. “One thing led to another, and we made the deal.” Bender says that five of the newly minted Littler attorneys will be based in Boston, four (including Reed) will be in Providence and two will work out of the Newark office.
This marks the latest bit of expansion for Littler. Since 2015, the firm has opened offices in Germany, Canada, Portland, Maine, and Austin, Texas, as well as a Global Services Center in Kansas City.
In a statement to the American Lawyer, Locke Lord wished their former colleagues well. “The unique type of labor and employment matters this group handled had not been the type of work Locke Lord did prior to the Locke Lord-Edwards Wildman merger,” the statement said. “We have known this move was coming and wish them all the best.”
This move marks the latest round of departures by Edwards Wildman legacy partners from Locke Lord. According to the Boston Business Journal, dozens of ex-Edwards Wildman lawyers quit the Boston office in 2015 after the Locke Lord merger that year. Meanwhile, the American Lawyer reported in February that three private equity partners who were Edwards Wildman legacy partners had jumped from Locke Lord to Choate Hall & Stewart.
