Klehr Harrison Harvey Branzburg has added to its zoning and land use practice, bringing on Hercules Grigos, a longtime partner and head of the zoning and land use practice at Obermayer Rebmann Maxwell & Hippel.

Grigos said he was drawn to the opportunity to join a larger land use practice group at Klehr Harrison, “what I always considered to be the premier zoning practice in Philadelphia.”

Most of his clients will join him at Klehr Harrison, he said, including US Construction Inc., Lidl Supermarkets, U-Haul and real estate company Iron Stone Strategic Capital Partners.

In a statement, Klehr Harrison managing partner Brad Krouse said Grigos “strengthens one of our deepest and strongest practice areas and positions us well for the future.” Krouse said his hire is consistent with the firm's strategic plan.

Carl Primavera, who chairs the firm's zoning and land use practice, said Grigos' practice “expands our footprint into the counties.”

Grigos noted that he has clients with matters in Montgomery and Bucks counties.

In a statement Tuesday, Obermayer managing partner Mathieu Shapiro said the firm will miss Grigos, and wishes him the best.

“Meanwhile, our zoning and land use practice remains as strong as ever. We look forward to the many opportunities that lie ahead with our new chair, Michael Phillips, at the helm,” Shapiro said.

The past 18 months has been an active game of musical chairs for zoning and land use practices at Philadelphia-area midsize firms.

Dilworth Paxson added longtime Ballard Spahr lawyer Neil Sklaroff in February, after bringing on partner Darwin Beauvais and associate Meredith Ferleger from Zarwin Baum DeVito Kaplan Schaer Toddy just over a year earlier.

Zarwin Baum quickly staffed back up, bringing on partner Dawn Tancredi from Obermayer. Less than a year later, zoning and real estate attorney Stephen Pollock left Zarwin Baum for construction boutique Horn Williamson, where he established the zoning, land use and development practice.

In discussing those moves, many of those lawyers noted the importance of being linked to a strong real estate or construction practice, or both.

“I always wanted to hook up with a construction firm,” Pollock said in September, regarding his move to Horn Williamson. “I always get people permission to start building something, but I can't help them any more once they start building.”

With regard to movement in the land use space over the past 18 months, Grigos said it's a small bar, so any movement is more noticeable than it might be in other practice areas.

And he nodded to the utility of being at a firm with a strong focus on real estate—Klehr Harrison's managing partner was previously the real estate and finance practice chairman, and the firm also offers real estate tax and construction-related legal services.

“All those things touch on my clients because they're finding the property … having the large group to be able to navigate or help them with the transactional [work] just benefits the clients,” Grigos said.

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