Charlotte-based Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein has opened a four-lawyer Atlanta office, its first outside of the Carolinas.

The 200-lawyer firm has recruited patent litigator Robert Florence as a partner from IP boutique Workman Nydegger—which he joined in 2014 from McGuireWoods—and two IP litigators from McGuireWoods' Atlanta office.

Florence handles IP litigation, prosecution and counseling, with a focus on pharmaceutical patent litigation brought under the Hatch-Waxman Act. The other IP litigators, Karen Carroll and Micheal Binns, both joined Parker Poe's new office as counsel. Paralegal Crystal Regan also made the move from McGuireWoods.