Meredith Hobbs

August 22, 2007 | National Law Journal

Six months ago, Chuck Whitney, the Atlanta managing partner of Duane Morris, started a nuclear power practice for the Philadelphia-based firm. There has not been a contract signed for a new nuclear power plant in the United States in 30 years, but now the time is right, says Whitney, who is a veteran of the Georgia Power team that finally got the Plant Vogtle reactors built in the late 1980s. "Nuclear is the best way," Whitney says. "It's not perfect, but it's the best of the imperfect choices."

By Meredith Hobbs

9 minute read

June 26, 2008 | Law.com

Troutman Sanders will merge with a 100-lawyer Washington, D.C., firm, Ross, Dixon & Bell, gaining offices on the West Coast and in Chicago. The deal, effective Jan. 1, will make Troutman Sanders a 750-lawyer firm, with about 1,700 total employees. Troutman's chairman, Robert W. Webb Jr., said the merger will double the size of the firm's Washington office, from 58 to 105 attorneys. This is Troutman's third major combination with another firm in seven years.

By Meredith Hobbs

5 minute read

December 10, 2004 | Law.com

When his Senate term expires, Zell B. Miller will join McKenna Long & Aldridge as a senior policy adviser in its government affairs practice. Miller, who is not a lawyer, will give nonlegal counsel to firm clients. Miller is a Democrat with ties to the Republican party and gave the nominating speech for President Bush at the GOP convention. The firm hopes Miller's political expertise and history of working with people on both sides of the aisle will help grow McKenna's practice.

By Meredith Hobbs

5 minute read

June 30, 2011 | Corporate Counsel

LinkedIn has become an accepted professional relationship-building tool, but many lawyers still aren't sure how to benefit from it. At a June seminar on using LinkedIn effectively, lawyers who weren't using the social networking tool said they knew they should be but didn't want to spend an inordinate amount of time on it.

By Meredith Hobbs

6 minute read

August 12, 2009 | Law.com

A chunk of Troutman Sanders' power industry finance group has broken away to form a six-lawyer boutique, Mercer Thompson. John T.W. Mercer, the former head of Troutman's project development and finance group, leads the new firm with partner Richard E. "Chip" Thompson II. Both had spent their careers at Troutman. Said Mercer, "Troutman is like an aircraft carrier. We've decided to climb in a PT boat and go buzzing around."

By Meredith Hobbs

6 minute read

May 12, 2011 | New York Law Journal

By Meredith Hobbs

7 minute read

September 21, 2006 | National Law Journal

When Hurricane Katrina hit, Jake Schwartz, then the New Orleans outpost for Watkins Ludlam, evacuated to Atlanta to wait out the storm with his pregnant wife, their 14-year-old daughter and the family dog. But then the levees broke. Now the family has decided to stay in Atlanta, and Schwartz has joined Jackson Lewis as of counsel. But legal recruiters say there's a lot working against Gulf Coast lawyers looking to make Atlanta their permanent home.

By Meredith Hobbs

7 minute read

August 01, 2005 | Law.com

Emory University General Counsel Kent B. Alexander sat at his computer July 21 and watched $540 million go into Emory's account. The money was Emory's take from selling royalty interests in a promising new HIV drug, Emtriva, and its offspring Truvada. But the ease at which the payout -- considered the largest ever to an American university for intellectual property -- flowed into Emory's account belies more than a decade of complex legal battling for Emory to establish its rights to Emtriva.

By Meredith Hobbs

8 minute read

August 06, 2007 | The Legal Intelligencer

Alston & Bird has raised pay for its Atlanta associates, with first-years getting a bump from $130,000 to $145,000 - matching what the firm pays first-years in its Charlotte, N.C., office. The raises, announced Wednesday evening, go into effect Jan. 1, 2008.

By Meredith Hobbs

7 minute read

September 28, 2006 | Law.com

Kentucky law firm Greenebaum Doll & McDonald established its Atlanta office three years ago when Kevin Doherty joined the firm as a partner along with F. Maria Sheffield, his associate. But the recent defection of Doherty and Sheffield for Burr & Forman, a major Nashville, Tenn., firm, has turned the Atlanta outpost into a big question mark. Doherty's departure was part of a larger catch by Burr & Forman of Greenebaum lawyers.

By Meredith Hobbs

2 minute read