The bulk of Burns White's medicare compliance group has left the firm and joined Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani.

Five partners from Burns White—Michelle Allan, Travis Smith, Ciara Koba, Bridget Smith and Kimberly Young—are now partners at Gordon Rees. Six associates have made the move with them. 

All 11 lawyers are located in Pittsburgh. 

Pittsburgh office managing partner Manoj Jegasothy said the group move came together organically, as Travis Smith had previously worked on matters with Gordon Rees heath care partner Matthew Horgan. Travis Smith and Allan will be the leaders of the firm's new Medicare compliance practice, he said.

“They are in a practice group that we didn't have. Their business model was also appealing, and when we first met it felt like a good fit for all of us,” Jegasothy said. “There's some work that those two groups can do together, but even more importantly, there are cross-marketing opportunities.”

According to Burns White's website, the firm now has 128 lawyers—and just one, Tony Comas, left in its Medicare compliance practice. 

In a statement Thursday morning, Burns White executive committee member David B. White acknowledged that the Medicare group leaders had left the firm Tuesday.

“After working in various law firms for several decades, we have come to realize that departures, such as these, happen in this business. Burns White is fortunate that the firm continues to be fiscally sound, is well respected, and remains poised for sustained growth in the mid-Atlantic market,” White said. “Change is inevitable, and we look forward to future opportunities as we continue to evolve our services to meet our clients' needs.”

The 800-lawyer Gordon Rees has been growing in other regions as well, having just opened two new offices earlier this month in Detroit and Missoula, Montana.

The firm opened its Pittsburgh office in 2012, bringing on a seven-lawyer group from Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney, led by Jegasothy. It has since grown to 53 lawyers, he said, and includes litigators who focus on commercial litigation, health care, products liability, toxic tort, employment law, insurance coverage, antitrust matters, class actions and construction law, according to the firm.

“I think the market was ready for a firm that had a large geographic footprint and a flexible business model,” Jegasothy said.

The firm was founded in San Francisco in 1974 with a focus on litigation defense. It now has 50 offices in the United States, and is listed in the Am Law 200.

Burns White has also grown in recent years. From 2016 to 2017 the firm moved up 40 places on The National Law Journal's list of the largest law firms by head count, reporting a lawyer count of 133 for the 2017 list.