Kirk Pasich wasn’t looking for a merger when he sat down for lunch with Mikaela Whitman, a founding partner of Pasich’s insurance recovery boutique who left for McGuireWoods in January.

By the end of the June 20 meetup, Whitman had not only propositioned Kirk Pasich on merging his 15-lawyer firm into McGuireWoods, but she also agreed to try and convince firm management to get it done on an expedited timeline that accommodated a heavy slate of upcoming cases for the small firm.