Law Firms
Trial Lawyer Spinoff to Get Just One Name from Fowler White
Posted Sep 24, 2008, 07:44 am CST
By Debra Cassens Weiss
When a group of 60 trial lawyers announced last month they were leaving Fowler White Boggs Banker to form a new boutique law firm, the departure was said to be amicable, with one exception. Both firms wanted the Fowler White name.
The dispute has been resolved, with the spinoff firm getting just one out of four names, the National Law Journal reports. The original firm will be called Fowler White Boggs, and the new firm will be Banker Lopez Gassler.
Both sides said the amicable split occurred because the trial lawyers’ practice was no longer compatible with the firm’s focus on commercial transactional work.
Bob Banker is the managing partner at the new boutique firm. He told the NLJ he wanted to keep the Fowler White name for his firm but didn’t have the votes for it, since the greater number of lawyers—135 of them—are staying with the original firm.
He said Banker Lopez Gassler did win one concession: If Fowler White ever changes its name or merges with another firm, its name will go to Banker Lopez. “It’s better than nothing,” Banker said.