Philadelphia giant Morgan Lewis & Bockius is to launch branches in Chicago and Boston after securing a deal to take over the bulk of insurance boutique Zevnik Horton.

The takeover adds 27 lawyers to Morgan Lewis' 1,200-lawyer practice and is a major boost to the top 20 US firm's contentious insurance team.

Major companies that Zevnik has advised on insurance recovery issues include Sara Lee, Wal-Mart and ConocoPhilips.

It is as yet unclear what will happen to Zevnik Horton's remaining branches in Los Angeles, Washington DC, New Jersey, Philadelphia, New York, Indiana and London.

The takeover comes after Morgan Lewis secured a substantial boost to its West Coast practice earlier this year with the appointment of 150 lawyers from dissolving Californian giant Brobeck Phleger & Harrison.

Morgan Lewis chairman Francis Milone commented:

"The addition of the Zevnik Horton litigators will dramatically expand our capacity in insurance recovery litigation, an area in which we are seeing a growing client demand.

"Moreover, the opening of two new offices is an important step to enable us to further strengthen our geographic capabilities for clients.

"In particular, the Chicago base will allow Morgan Lewis to serve sections of the Mid-west which were previously serviced from some of our other existing locations."

First reported on legalweek.net (2 October).