White and Williams is beefing up its presence in the New York metropolitan area, bringing on a group of labor and employment lawyers from LeClairRyan.

Managing partner Patti Santelle said the firm has been in expansion mode in the region and has recently added office space in Newark to create more room for growth.

“I've been very supportive and personally engaged in expanding our presence in North Jersey. There are a lot of great lawyers there and a lot of great clients,” Santelle said, noting that she started her own legal practice in that region. “There are a lot of major corporations and clients with a significant presence in North Jersey.”

The group, which will be based in Newark but will also serve New York, is led by partner James Anelli, who was a co-leader of LeClairRyan's labor and employment group, and partner Joseph Paranac. They are joined by counsel Laura Corvo and Robert Pettigrew, also from LeClairRyan. 

White and Williams also recently grew in Newark with the addition of associate Andrée Laney, who previously worked for the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

Santelle said Anelli's group adds to White and Williams' capabilities with regard to Occupational Safety and Health Administration matters, employment discrimination, benefits and compensation, and executive agreements. And it at least doubles the firm's labor law team, she said.

“We brought a full-service group to the firm so we could expand the types of services White and Williams could provide,” said Anelli, who officially made the move last month. “We definitely think that through their client base and our client base there is room for expansion and growth.”

Anelli said his group's rates are flexible but match up well with White and Williams' business model. That and the firm's geographic platform attracted his group to make the move, he said. His group's client base is national, Santelle said, but many are based in New York and New Jersey.

Their clients include businesses in technology, retail, manufacturing and media, Anelli said, as well as a supermarket company. They range in size from small businesses, “where we do basically all of their labor and employment work,” to one of New Jersey's largest employers, he said.

White and Williams and LeClairRyan are more different in office count than head count. LeClairRyan, founded in Richmond, Virginia, has just over 300 lawyers across 25 offices in New Jersey, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Texas, Virginia and Washington, D.C. White and Williams has about 240 lawyers across 10 offices in Delaware, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island, as well as an affiliation in Tianjin, China, with Winners Law Firm.

LeClairRyan did not respond to a request for comment Tuesday.

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