Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein is absorbing most of a Washington, D.C.-based firm to open a new office in the city, establishing its first full-service outpost outside the Southeastern U.S.

Parker Poe, a 200-lawyer firm headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, said in a press release Thursday that it’s joining forces with Leftwich, a minority and women-owned firm in Washington. Leftwich is shuttering its doors as a law firm, and five of its attorneys are moving to Parker Poe’s new D.C. office: Thomas Bridenbaugh, Nicholas Penn, Sherry Bellamy, Scott Burrell and Roderic Woodson.

Parker Poe said its new beachhead in the capital will help it grow its federal lobbing and government affairs practice, which will be led by Bruce Thompson, who has been working to grow the Parker Poe’s presence in the city for more than a decade.

“These strategic steps will enhance our ability to support clients across our footprint,” Parker Poe managing partner Tom Griffin said in a statement. “The Leftwich firm has been a staple in the District for over 40 years, and we are thrilled to combine forces with a group of professionals who share the same key values as we do. We look forward to serving our clients with a diverse talent pool of attorneys and professionals in Washington.”

Investment attorney Michael Kelley is also joining the team of Leftwich hires in Parker Poe’s new office. He was most recently at Arent Fox.

In an interview, Griffin added that the firm had been interested in expanding into Washington, D.C. for a while, and it was just a matter of finding the right opportunity.

“We knew D.C. was an important market for us to be in, but we grow really carefully” he said, noting that partering with Leftwich was a good move becuase the firm had been well-regarded in the district for years. “We’re happy it turned out the way it did.”

Parker Poe said its new D.C. location will be a full-service office, and its new attorneys have experience in practice areas including real estate and commercial development, sports and entertainment, telecommunications, energy, government contracting and small business law and consulting. Griffin added that he sees the office growing in the future, and it will be filled with attorneys with the right expertise to meet market needs, such as corporate securities, tax and government investigations.

At the same time, Parker Poe is expanding its consulting arm; its consulting agency, Parker Poe Consulting, is combining with Leftwich’s consulting service to create PPC-Leftwich. Marie Johns, Leftwich’s former managing partner, will lead the joint venture as CEO. Parker Poe said in a statement that the new consulting firm will “operate as a minority/women-led professional services company.”

“The Leftwich LLC team is excited to join forces with Parker Poe and leverage the firm’s size and strength in serving clients,” Johns said in a statement. “We are committed to continuing our founder Willie Leftwich’s legacy of extraordinary service to clients and deep engagement in our city.”

In Parker Poe’s new consulting partnership with Leftwich, Griffin said he was happy to bring the firm’s model of subsidiary consulting work to provide Washington, D.C. with nontraditional legal services, such as government affairs and economic development.

“That model has worked really well for us,” he said. “It was natural for us to continue that structure in the district.”

In addition to Charlotte and the new Washington office, Parker Poe has five additional locations in the Carolinas as well as an Atlanta office.