Baltimore’s newest law firm touts depth in practice areas, geographic reach

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With the demand for legal services remaining stagnant and clients wanting to consolidate the number of firms who handle their work, larger firms offer experienced attorneys something that is too good to pass up: depth across practice areas and a broad geographic reach.

That’s what led 11 partners and 12 associates from Miles & Stockbridge PC to move across the street and open the Baltimore office for South Carolina-based Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough, according to office managing partner Timothy A. Hodge Jr.

“The opportunity to work at a firm that had a great deal of reach across the country and depth in certain practice areas were important for us as lawyers,” Hodge said last week in an interview. “All of us saw Nelson Mullins as a great opportunity to us to give a broader reach.”

The litigation team of nine attorneys is led by Michael A. Brown, an experienced trial attorney who described Nelson Mullins’ litigation practice as “top tier.”

Nelson Mullins approached the group of corporate and litigation lawyers at Miles & Stockbridge for two reasons, Hodge said. First, it was a chance to increase the firm’s presence in the mid-Atlantic region (Nelson Mullins previously had only a Washington, D.C. office between North Carolina and New York). Second, Nelson Mullins’ national products liability, pharmaceutical and automotive litigation practice fit well with the litigation attorneys formerly of Miles & Stockbridge.

“It all fit within Nelson Mullins’ strategic plan for the future,” Hodge said.

When Nelson Mullins announced last month it was coming to Charm City, Managing Partner Jim Lehman said its plan is about finding the right people in the right practice areas.

“That is certainly the case with this group of high-caliber attorneys,” he said.

Hodge reiterated the announcement about the new Nelson Mullins office had nothing to do with leadership changes at Miles & Stockbridge, calling new managing partner Nancy Greene “a wonderful person and a friend.”

“This transaction was about the opportunity and sometimes business deals take on a life of their own,” Hodge said.

Greene was named chairman of Miles & Stockbridge as part of a leadership reorganization Feb. 21, one day before the Nelson Mullins office was announced.

Joseph W. Hovermill, who was named Miles & Stockbridge’s new president and CEO last month, said at the time one of his biggest challenges would be lateral movements. But he called Nelson Mullins’ arrival a positive development for Baltimore.

“I think it’s exciting for Baltimore city, as a firm that has a lot of lawyers in the city, that a firm like Nelson Mullins is interested in starting an office here,” he said.

Nelson Mullins has 18 offices, most along the East Coast, as well as in Denver and Los Angeles. The Baltimore office, at 100 S. Charles St., has support staff both formerly from Miles & Stockbridge and from Nelson Mullins’ other offices helping the 23 lawyers the transition.

“They’ve been fantastic helping us get off the ground,” Hodge said.

Attorneys trickled in over the past two weeks as they wrapped up pending matters, he added.

“The transition is going terrific,” Hodge said. “We’re fitting in great with (Nelson Mullins’) culture.”

So far, some clients are fully coming over from Miles & Stockbridge while others are going to have business with both firms, Hodge said.

In the next year, the Baltimore office’s goal is to build out its corporate and transaction practice, as well as bring in some lawyers specializing in employment, government contracts and real estate, Hodge said. The firm also plans to hire more attorneys in the Baltimore office at both partner and associate levels.