Spencer Fane offices.Midwest Firm Spencer Fane Continues Texas Expansion, Taking 9 From Addison Firm
A group of nine litigation and business lawyers from Hiersche, Hayward, Drakeley & Urbach will join Spencer Fane's Plano office on Jan. 1.
November 13, 2019 at 10:35 AM
3 minute read
Midwest firm Spencer Fane is expanding its Plano office, adding nine litigation and business lawyers from Hiersche, Hayward, Drakeley & Urbach, which is based in Addison and will soon wind down operations.
The group will join Spencer Fane on Jan. 1, two years after the firm opened in Plano. The Kansas City, Missouri-based firm opened its Dallas office in 2016 and moved into Houston earlier this year.
The lateral hires include James Drakeley, James Patterson and Scott Seifert, who will join as partners; William Hayward, Laurie Patton, Thomas Slover, Chris Summers and Robert Van Amburgh, who will come on board as counsel; and Macy Matthews, who joins as an associate.
Drakeley, Seifert and Patton are litigators, while Patterson, Hayward, Slover, Summers, Van Amburgh and Matthews handle transactions and business law.
Paul Sander, managing partner of Spencer Fane's Plano office, said the group of "well-regarded attorneys" boosts the existing practices in the office, which currently has 12 lawyers.
He said discussions began several months ago, and an expansion of the firm's space in Plano to accommodate the new group is nearly complete.
"It expands our business group as well as our litigation group in the Dallas market, and then they pick up some practice areas that they didn't have that will hopefully allow them to better serve their clients and perhaps pick up additional work they had to pass on," Sander said.
Hiersche Hayward will wind down operations as of Dec. 31, with founder Jerry Hiersche staying to manage the wrap up of the firm before retiring, the firm announced on Wednesday in a press release.
"It's been a good run and lots of fun, but it's time to be done," Hiersche wrote about the end of the firm he launched nearly 40 years ago.
In addition to the nine lawyers headed to Spencer Fane, Hiersche Hayward's medical malpractice section, which includes shareholders William "Dick" Wiles, M. Kenneth Patterson, Kevin Keith and Heather Kanny, is in talks with several firms. In an interview on Wednesday, Kanny said they will make a decision by the end of the week.
Drakeley could not be immediately reached for comment. In a press release from Spencer Fane he said the move provides "new depth of resources" for his group's clients.
Sander said the Spencer Fane's Dallas office, located about 25 miles from Plano, has a dozen lawyers.
Looking ahead, Sander said the two Dallas-area offices are looking to expand further with environmental, labor and employment and health care lawyers.
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Spencer Fane Opens in Houston, Adding 19 Zimmerman Axelrad Lawyers
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