National labor firm raids Littler and Ogletree, opens new offices in Denver and New York
Atlanta-based Constangy Brooks & Smith has raided two well-known labor and employment firms and some BigLaw competitors, gaining 12 attorneys, two new offices and an additional name partner in the process.
Don Prophete, who practices in Kansas City, will be the new name on the marquee for the nearly 160-attorney national firm, as well as the first African-American name partner at a major labor and employment boutique, according to the Daily Report (sub. req.) and the Denver Business Journal.
“Don is a tremendous business developer, an excellent lawyer and nationally recognized,” Constangy chairman Neil Wasser told the Daily Report. “We thought putting his name on the outside of the door would be reflective of all the changes going on inside the door.”
The 70-year-old firm, which now has a total of 27 offices throughout the country, is “expanding in size and footprint and adopting new technologies as part of our continued commitment to serving our clients in a rapidly changing, diverse world,” explained Wasser in a law firm press release. “One of my partners likes to say that it’s never a bad time to hire a good attorney–this was an opportunity to do that with all of the lawyers who are becoming part of the Constangy family.”
Prophete expects to split his time between Denver and New York, where Constangy is opening a new office. It isn’t clear who will be at the helm there.
In addition to Prophete and two fellow Kansas City partners from Littler, the new Constangy attorneys include a four-lawyer team from Ogletree Deakins Nash Smoak & Stewart in Denver, including two partners; another Ogletree partner in New Jersey; and four attorneys from BigLaw firms in various locations.
Former Littler partner Jim Goh will be in charge of the new Denver office his group is opening for Constangy.
Meanwhile, Prophete expects to work with Constangy to “meaningfully diversify the legal profession in a way that’s never been done before and, embarrassingly, still needs to be done in 2015,” he told the Daily Report.
A Haitian immigrant, Prophete was raised in New York by a single mother who worked multiple jobs to send him to private schools. He was inspired to join the legal profession by an African-American attorney for whom his mother worked in the 1970s.
March 2, when Prophete joined Constangy, happens to be his mother’s birthday. When he called her that day, “I thanked her for everything she has done for me,” he said.
See also:
ABAJournal.com: “6 more lawyers to exit Ogletree for Littler, join ex-partner who sent ‘scathing’ email to Ogletree”
