Christina M. Baugh, (left) and Mark Keenan of Barnes & Thornburg. (Courtesy photos)

Barnes & Thornburg has recruited two lateral partners, Christina Baugh from local boutique Fellows LaBriola and Mark Keenan from Nelson, Mullins, Riley & Scarborough.

These are the first partners Atlanta managing partner John Koenig has brought in since becoming Barnes & Thornburg's local leader last November. He succeeded Stuart Johnson, who joined the Indianapolis-based firm in 2009 from Powell Goldstein (subsequently acquired by Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner) to open the Atlanta office.

“Christina and Mark are both really smart, high quality lawyers with a lot of experience. They're great additions to the team,” Koenig said. Their additions give Barnes & Thornburg 24 lawyers in its Atlanta office.

Baugh and Keenan practice in areas that Barnes & Thornburg wants to expand in Atlanta, Koenig said. Both bring clients, he said, declining to name them.

Baugh handles complex business disputes, intellectual property litigation and some insurance coverage disputes. Keenan handles traditional labor law as well as employment litigation.

Koenig, who also has a labor and employment practice, said he met Keenan several years ago at a CLE, by virtue of the fact that they were both in the nametag line for “K.” They had lunch and stayed in touch. “Sometimes serendipity is a nice thing,” Koenig said.

Labor and employment law is a “strong suit” for Barnes & Thornburg, Koenig said, estimating that there are about 80 lawyers firmwide in that area. “We do a lot of traditional labor work, so this is a huge addition for us and our team,” he added.

Barnes & Thornburg's national footprint, Koenig said, includes a large Chicago office—a city where, Keenan, who earned his J.D. in 1989 from the University of Illinois, has clients.

Baugh, who earned her J.D. in 2007 from the University of Georgia, had spent her career thus  at Fellows LaBriola.

Koenig said Baugh's commercial and IP litigation practice “is a good mix for what we do here.”

“Christina handles lots of noncompetes and business divorces, including shareholder disputes,” he said, and “we have a strong IP litigation team in Atlanta.”

Baugh is active in the Atlanta community, serving as president-elect of the Georgia Association for Women Lawyers, treasurer for the Atlanta Bar Association, an officer for the Atlanta chapter of the Federal Bar Association and a member of the Junior League of Atlanta.

Koenig met Baugh through his own work in the community. He knew her father-in-law from serving with him on the board of the Sandy Springs Mission, a nonprofit that provides after-school tutoring and mentoring to Latino students. Through that connection he got to know Baugh a few years ago.

Growth Areas

Koenig told the Daily Report in December, soon after he was elected the Atlanta managing partner, that commercial litigation, intellectual property and labor and employment were top practice areas for Barnes & Thornburg and areas where it wanted to add bench strength in Atlanta.

The growth plan for Atlanta, Koenig said on Monday, is to make the local office “look more like our firm overall,” adding that patent prosecution, M&A, real estate and ERISA law are other areas he'd like to expand.

While some large national general practice firms have de-emphasized patent prosecution and labor and employment law, Koenig noted, those are strong areas for Barnes & Thornburg.

“Our IP group is one of the busiest patent prosecution practices of a full-service firm in the country,” he said. “Here in Atlanta we want more patent prosecutors to fill out the team. The same with corporate and M&A lawyers, which are part of the bedrock of our firm.”

With roughly 600-lawyers Barnes & Thornburg increased revenue by 2.7 percent in 2018 to $406.2 million, following an almost 7 percent revenue increase the prior year. It placed at No. 90 on the American Lawyer's Am Law 100 list in 2017. The list for 2018 has not been released yet.

Koenig said he's in discussions with other partner prospects.