Husch Blackwell Sanders Grows Again, Will Merge With Chicago IP Boutique
A rapidly expanding midwestern law firm with a presence in Washington D.C. and London is growing again.
Since deciding to merge late last year, the St. Louis- and Kansas City-based firms that formed Husch Blackwell Sanders have opened offices in Chicago and Denver. Now the 630-lawyer firm plans to grow again, via a merger with a Chicago-based intellectual property boutique that will bring its attorney roster close to 700, Welsh & Katz, reports the St. Louis Business Journal.
The move will add 45 lawyers to Husch Blackwell, which will now be known in Chicago as Husch Blackwell Sanders Welsh & Katz, and will double the size of Husch Blackwell’s intellectual property practice group to nearly 100. A. Sidney Katz will chair the firm’s national IP practice and co-chair the Chicago office.
Leaders of the two firms say in a press release that they expect the merger to amp up Husch Blackwell’s Chicago office and IP practice while at the same time giving Welsh & Katz opportunities to cross-market intellectual property services to general business clients.
“This opportunity accelerates our positioning in Chicago and is important to our ability to expand practices in one of the top legal markets in the U.S.,” says David Fenley, Husch Blackwell co-chairman.
