September 9, 2013
THE RECORDER
By Julia Love
SAN FRANCISCO – “St. Louis-based Thompson Coburn has snapped up a Los Angeles boutique to break into the California market.
Ten-lawyer Freedman Weisz has agreed to combine with Thompson Coburn, bringing the AmLaw 200 firm to more than 350 attorneys overall. In addition to representing West Coast companies like Irvine-based Kawasaki Motors Corp., Thompson Coburn handles legal work for about half a dozen cities in Southern California, including Anaheim and Riverside. With a roster of clients already in place, the combination with Freedman Weisz, which is expected to be completed in early October, will allow Thompson Coburn to deepen its practice on the ground in Southern California, said chairman Thomas Minogue.
“We think they provide us with exactly the right starting point in the market,” he said, adding: “They fight well above their weight class.”
Freedman Weisz, which counts mainly corporate lawyers, handles a wide range of transactional work, along with real estate and some IP matters, Minogue said. Freedman Weisz managing partner Barry Weisz will stay on board as leader of Thompson Coburn’s Los Angeles office.
With Freedman Weisz’s lawyers in play, Thompson Coburn hopes to double its head count in Los Angeles, Minogue said. Legal recruiter Larry Watanabe, who represented Thompson Coburn in the deal, said the firm, which also has offices in Chicago, Southern Illinois and Washington, D.C., will use lateral hires to round out its practice in Southern California.
“This satisfies some of their initial needs,” he said. “There’s a lot of follow-on to this.”