McManimon, Scotland & Baumann and Trenk DiPasquale Della Fera & Sodono, two New Jersey firms known for building—and building off of—public-sector practices, are to effectively combine as of Oct. 1.

The new firm, with 51 lawyers, will operate under the McManimon Scotland & Baumann name from that firm's Roseland headquarters, but will maintain offices in Newark and Trenton.

“It's not something we've ever done before. It's not something we take lightly,” McManimon Scotland chairman Joseph P. Baumann Jr. said of the tie-up in a phone interview.

According to Baumann, lawyers practicing in Trenk DiPasquale's West Orange main office are in the process of moving to McManimon Scotland's Roseland office, at 75 Livingston Ave. McManimon Scotland previously had a small, unstaffed office in Trenton, but will take on Trenk DiPasquale's more substantial office there, at 427 Riverview Plaza. And McManimon Scotland will hold onto its office in Newark, the city of its 1971 birth.

McManimon Scotland is taking on 15 Trenk DiPasquale lawyers, though not the latter firm's assets or liabilities, and therefore is not technically an acquisition, Baumann noted.

Nearly all Trenk DiPasquale lawyers are joining in the move, though Trenk DiPasquale name partner Joseph DiPasquale will take his bankruptcy and corporate practice elsewhere, according to Baumann.

Richard Trenk, managing partner and founder of his namesake firm, couldn't be reached by phone or email, but said in a statement: “The character, culture, commitment to the community and diversity, and the quality representation of both firms are remarkably consistent and refreshing. We are confident that we are going to have a highly successful combined enterprise that will render great results for our clients.”

Baumann said each firm's lawyers have been familiar with one another for years, and have referred work and shared clients. Trenk DiPasquale does more litigation work, while McManimon Scotland is heavier on the transactional side, and so the move is complementary, he said.

The firms have a reputation for government and government-related work, though at present roughly half of the McManimon Scotland firm's work, and more than half of the Trenk DiPasquale firm's work, is on behalf of private clients, according to Baumann.

“The combined firm will certainly be more private than public.” Baumann said, adding that “how we deal with an economy that we think will cycle up and down” will in part determine the firm's trajectory—meaning that the litigation- and bankruptcy-related practices from the Trenk DiPasquale side could see a boost if the economy weakens.

Talks started over the summer, Baumann said, when Trenk approached the other firm about combining. They spent about six weeks preparing, including vetting for conflicts.

Baumann said part of the draw for his side was a strong presence in Trenton that his firm has lacked. McManimon Scotland has long represented townships in agency and court matters in Trenton, and several attorneys who live closer to Trenton than Roseland will use the office, he noted.

Succession, however, was not a motivator, as each firm has been planning for the future, he said.

“We have some incredibly successful 30- and 40-year-old men and women,” Baumann said. “And Richard's firm … has done the same thing.”

As for the name, lawyers from each side saw value in the McManimon, Scotland & Baumann brand, and agreed to practice under that banner, Baumann said.

DiPasquale didn't respond to a call and email seeking information on his next move.

McManimon Scotland has long had one of New Jersey's most active public finance practices. In the Law Journal's recent bond counsel survey, the firm ranked third, working on 21 bond issues with a par amount of $458.4 million for the first half of 2018, a market share of 8.4 percent. The largest financing in which the firm was involved was a $215.85 million series of student loan revenue bonds issued by the New Jersey Higher Education Student Assistance Authority.

The firm has gone through some size fluctuations over the years, but has largely been on a track of incremental population growth since moving its headquarters to Roseland in 2012, after spending its entire 41-year history up to that point in Newark.

Baumann's name was added to the firm at that time as “part of an effort to show the world we do more than public finance,” he said.

The firm had 26 lawyers at the time of that move, and now brings 34 to the tie-up.

The firm was founded by bond lawyer John Kraft, who had just left his position as associate counsel to then-Gov. William Cahill. The firm grew to 47 lawyers, but in early 1987, a group of partners split off, leaving a 13-lawyer core that included partners Edward McManimon III and Glenn Scotland, and the firm became known as Kraft & McManimon. Kraft left in November 1992, and the firm became McManimon & Scotland before adding Baumann's name in 2012.

Trenk DiPasquale, formed in the early 2000s, handles various litigation, transactional and counseling matters, including commercial litigation, real estate and land use, government affairs, and bankruptcy.

It is the onetime home of Elnardo Webster II, who helped form the firm and who advised Cory Booker, now a U.S. senator, during Booker's tenure as Newark mayor. Webster in early 2012 led a five-lawyer group to Newark's Genova Burns, where he became a name partner and headed the firm's energy and utility practice group. (Webster in late 2014 left Genova Burns for what became Inglesino, Webster, Wyciskala & Taylor in Parsippany.)

The 2012 departures brought Trenk DiPasquale's head count to 20, though it continued to hire actively, the Law Journal reported at the time. The firm, minus DiPasquale, has 18 lawyers as of its tie-up with McManimon Scotland, according to its website.