SAN FRANCISCO AND NEW YORK (October 30, 2006)— LAWFUEL – Law News, Law Jobs – Thelen Reid & Priest LLP, a national leader in construction, energy, and project finance, and Brown Raysman Millstein Felder & Steiner LLP, a pioneer in technology law and a firm with one of the country’s premier real estate finance practices, have agreed to merge, forming a firm with more than 615 lawyers. The name of the combined firm will be Thelen Reid Brown Raysman & Steiner LLP, and the merger will take effect December 1, 2006.
The merger will combine Thelen Reid’s unparalleled reputation in such traditional areas as construction, energy, and litigation with Brown Raysman’s nationally recognized practices in technology, outsourcing, intellectual property, e-commerce, media, and communications. The merger will also provide clients with access to a broad base of integrated services, including the combination of Thelen Reid’s leading finance practices in the areas of energy, infrastructure, and project finance, together with Brown Raysman’s real estate finance practice, which closed $25 billion in loans in the past several years for leading Wall Street financial institutions, money center banks, and hedge funds.
The combined firm will rank in the top 50 on the Am Law 100 and have a national footprint, with offices in major markets of the United States. The firm will have a total of eight offices—seven in the United States and a recently opened office in Shanghai—and a well-balanced national platform with 242 attorneys in California and 371 lawyers on the East Coast, including 255 in New York.
The management structure of the new firm will include an Office of the Chair. Stephen V. O’Neal and Julian S. Millstein will serve as Co-Chairs, and Thomas E. Hill will become Managing Partner of Operations.
“I can’t imagine a better fit,” said Thelen Reid Chairman Stephen V. O’Neal. “While Brown Raysman has an excellent reputation as a leading technology, intellectual property, media and communications firm, what is less known is that Brown Raysman also has one of the premier real estate finance practices in the country, which complements our strengths in myriad ways.”
Brown Raysman’s Julian S. Millstein, a founder of the firm, said joining with Thelen Reid will create a new firm that is well-positioned for further expansion. “This combination gives us the presence we have wanted on the West Coast and in Asia for our technology, media, and IP practices, and the platform we need to service and grow our real estate finance practice,” Millstein said.
