Joseph R. Podraza of Lamb McErlane.

Two lawyers from Philadelphia's Sprague & Sprague, Joseph Podraza and William Trask, are leaving to join West Chester-based Lamb McErlane, launching a Center City presence for the firm.

Podraza spent 26 years at Sprague & Sprague. He said it was "a wonderful experience," but he decided to move to Lamb McErlane for "the offer of partnership and the offer to build a Philadelphia office with people I'm very familiar with."

Joel Frank, chair of Lamb McErlane, said Podraza approached him to say he was thinking of making a move, and he was pleased to hear that Lamb McErlane was his first choice of firm.

"I've worked on and off with that firm for 20 years at least, and specifically with Joe," Frank said. "When he approached me, I was receptive … a deal was pretty quickly reached."

The firm has handled matters in Philadelphia before, Frank said, but with the addition of Podraza and Trask, it made sense to create a physical presence there. The new office will be located at 1 South Broad St.

Trask has worked with Podraza on "virtually all of my higher-profile matters and larger commercial and civil matters," Podraza said.

He said he plans to bring with him his existing business base and create some new mutually beneficial relationships with other local law firms. Asked how much business he is bringing to Lamb McErlane, Podraza declined to give specifics, but said it is "certainly sufficient to be offered partnership."

In recent years, Podraza and Trask represented Towers Watson & Co. in a case against its former law firm, Morgan, Lewis & Bockius—according to Philadelphia court records, the parties filed a praecipe to settle, discontinue and end the case in July. Podraza also represented the Philadelphia Media Network in a fee dispute with Morgan Lewis, which settled in 2016. And he represented labor union leader John Dougherty in a defamation case against a former newspaper columnist that ended up before the state Supreme Court, and in a malpractice case against Pepper Hamilton.

Frank said Lamb McErlane has taken a position that "we don't poach other attorneys from other firms," but he is happy to discuss a move when lawyers approach the firm. "We've been flattered that over the past three to four years, there have been multiple laterals that approached us."

Reached by phone Tuesday, Thomas Sprague, partner and son of Sprague & Sprague founder Richard Sprague, declined to comment on Podraza and Trask's departure.