Latest Baker Hostetler Growth Spurt Starts With New Office in Chicago
In the latest move in an ongoing growth strategy, Baker Hostetler has announced today the opening of a new office in Chicago.
The more than 600-attorney Ohio-based firm now lists on its website a four-lawyer office in the Windy City on the 31st floor of 191 N. Wacker Drive. A press release says the new office will be headed by litigator Ronald Okada, a senior partner who has served in a number of management roles at Baker Hostetler.
Two new litigators and a mergers and acquisitions specialist will complete the attorney roster, for now. They include: partner Timothy Eloe, a corporate reorganization and M&A practitioner who previously was a partner of McDermott Will & Emery; William Kane, a former complex litigation partner of the London-based Lovells law firm; and associate Erin Bolan Hines, who formerly was a senior litigation associate at Lovells.
Executive partner Steven Kestner says in the press release that opening the Chicago office represents “another step in Baker Hostetler’s strategy of measured growth,” pointing to the firm’s rapid expansion in New York, where it opened with three lawyers in 2001 and now has nearly 100.
“We have been evaluating the possibility of entering the Chicago legal market for several years and found this to be an ideal opportunity to establish a presence with strong lawyers and promising prospects for growth,” Kestner states. “Our financial stability, lack of debt and rising revenues enable us to continue to expand even during this challenging economic climate.”
According to Baker Hostetler’s website, the Chicago outpost is the firm’s 11th location in the United States, where it also maintains offices in Cincinnati, Cleveland and Columbus, Ohio; New York City; Washington, D.C.; Los Angeles and Costa Mesa, Calif.; Denver; Orlando, Fla.; and Houston.
Hat tip: Chicago Tribune’s Chicago Law.
Related earlier coverage:
ABAJournal.com: “Baker Hostetler in an Expansive Mood”
