Philadelphia-based midsize firm Weber, Gallagher, Simpson, Stapleton, Fires & Newby has added to its already formidable workers' compensation practice by bringing on two partners and an associate from comparably sized Philadelphia firm Post & Schell, as well two attorneys from other firms. 

Leading the group from Post & Schell are partners Evan Dalzell and Hendrick Penn IV. Weber Gallagher also added one associate to the practice, another associate into its medical malpractice group and one of counsel in New York.

The second associate, Devon Malloy, comes from Robb Leonard Mulvihill and of counsel Leslie Ruff comes from LeClairRyan, which announced its plans to close earlier this month.

Dalzell, Penn and the associates will be working out of the firm's Pittsburgh office.

Weber Gallagher chairman Andrew Indeck said the addition was due in part to good timing, as well as planned expansion of the firm's Pittsburgh office, which lacked the same workers' comp capabilities other offices had.

"The Pittsburgh office was a focus of ours, to ramp up the workers' comp group," Indeck said. "We found two quality attorneys with great client lists."

Indeck said that the timing of the move was driven by the growth of Dalzell and Penn's practice, which had hit a "tipping point" at Post & Schell, causing the attorneys to seek an opportunity for growth.

"They are going to have the ability to cross-sell other practice areas and geographic areas," Indeck said. "They should be able to expand beyond Pennsylvania in workers' comp and otherwise. 

In a press release, Weber Gallagher said Dalzell and Penn defend employers, third-party administrators and insurance companies in workers' compensation matters. Their work has touched on a number of industries including retail, health care, energy and gas.

"They have had tremendous success in representing numerous clients and aiding their clients' businesses," Indeck said in a statement. "They are clearly top attorneys in their field and will increase our already extremely strong workers' compensation defense presence in Pennsylvania."

Indeck said that while expansion will continue in the areas of insurance coverage, business litigation, general liability and products liability across other offices, the Pittsburgh office is a major focus now. He said the firm also has plans to continue growing its New York office, and will look at opening offices in Ohio, Maryland and Washington, D.C.

"We are in a planned and purposeful expansion in all our offices as part of our strategic growth plan," Indeck said.

Dalzell spent almost 13 years at Post & Schell before making the move. Prior to that he was an attorney at Logan Law Office. Penn was at Post & Schell just over 13 years, joining the firm in June 2006. Before that he was at Dugan Associates for just under two years.

Post & Schell, which came in at No. 279 in The National Law Journal's NLJ 500 ranking of law firms by attorney head count, said it has had seven partner departures and four partner additions thus far in 2019. The firm has 143 attorneys spread over six offices in Pennsylvania.

Paul Johnson, marketing and communications manager for Post & Schell, issued a statement saying: "We appreciate Hendrick's and Evan's contributions to the firm and wish them well."

Correction: An earlier version of this story misstated the number of attorneys that came from Post & Schell.

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