A mere seven days after Armstrong Teasdale announced its new outpost in Salt Lake City, the firm said Friday that it has opened another new office, this time in Boston.

The St. Louis-based firm added corporate lawyers John Sten and Jason Moreau as its first two partners in Boston. The pair join from Pierce Atwood, and they both also formerly practiced at McDermott, Will & Emery and Greenburg Traurig.

In an interview, Armstrong Teasdale's managing partner, David Braswell, noted the firm has been on an East Coast expansion spree—since September 2018 it has opened New York City and Philadelphia offices, as well as a location in Princeton, New Jersey—and has long eyed Boston for its booming legal market and technology community.

As the firm seeks to grow its offices to have full-service offerings, the regional expansion will support lawyers across practice areas, Braswell said. For instance, Armstrong Teasdale's existing white-collar practice, which was borne out of Philadelphia and has gained national recognition, made the firm a good opportunity for Sten and Moreau in Boston.

"These are quality talents in Boston that will serve as a very entrepreneurial catalyst for the firm in that market," he said. "We have a lot of positive things going on, and given the vibrant market in Boston, it was always someplace the firm considered to be a great opportunity."

Sten focuses on corporate, securities and white-collar criminal defense involving negligence and fraud; the False Claims Act; securities; health care; public corruption; and other matters at the federal, state and local levels. He began his career as an attorney in the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's Enforcement Division.

Moreau is a complex commercial litigator who focuses on financial services, securities litigation and regulatory enforcement with clients in the financial services and banking; health care and pharmaceuticals; energy, minerals and mining; firearms; restaurant/point of sale software and services; and higher education sectors.

Braswell said the hires had been in the works since late 2019 and weren't driven by the coronavirus pandemic, which has upended the legal industry during the last two months. And at a time when many law firms are slashing pay, furloughing staff and letting lawyers go, Armstrong Teasdale is sticking with its growth strategy.

"If a firm has a sound business strategy, it's important to keep pursuing that in good times as well as bad times—the strategy needs to be viable in up and down markets," he said. "We're continuing plans for growth because I don't want to abandon that growth strategy in the face of difficult economic times. We will adjust accordingly, but I strongly believe our plan is viable, and that bad times present greater opportunity.

"It's never a bad time to invest in talent," he said.

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Armstrong Teasdale Launches in Utah as Salt Lake City Boom Continues