Carli Pearson, Michelle Gilboe, Richard Morgan and Doug Pfeifer, partners at Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith

Just when it seemed like every Am Law 100 firm that wanted a presence in Minneapolis had already landed there, one more set up shop in the Midwestern city this week.

Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith has opened an office in Minneapolis, the Los Angeles-headquartered firm's 52nd location, with four lawyers from a midsize trial firm, the firm announced Wednesday.

Michelle Gilboe will be managing partner of the new office, and joining her are partners Richard Morgan, Carli Pearson and Doug Pfeifer. All of them came from Bowman and Brooke, and focus their practices on products liability and life sciences.

Walter "Pete" Swayze III, a Philadelphia partner who chairs Lewis Brisbois' life sciences practice along with Philadelphia managing partner John Salvucci, said Minnesota is a key market for medical device litigation because some major medical device companies are located there. He noted that he and Gilboe have many national clients in common.

"As Lewis Brisbois's strategic growth continues, 2019 just got even more exciting with the addition of Michelle and her colleagues and our expansion into the Minnesota legal market," Swayze, who joined the firm in January, said. "This is a particularly compelling initiative for us as we expand our practice group."

"Minnesota has become a hotbed for medical device and mass tort litigation in recent years," Salvucci added in a statement.

Lewis Brisbois vice chairman Bob Smith said the firm searched long for a group whose expertise fit well "in areas that we're already strong in." He said mass torts is a national practice for the firm, in which it has particular expertise in Philadelphia, St. Louis and some other larger metropolitan offices. That likely made Lewis Brisbois attractive to Gilboe and Morgan, he said.

Smith said he has known Morgan professionally for a number of years, and that another lawyer from Bowman and Brooke joined Lewis Brisbois in San Diego several years ago, who "certainly validated the strength of Rick and his group."

"We have had our eye on Minneapolis for a long time. It's a major center for industry, many large corporations are there and many of our national clients have legal needs in Minneapolis," Smith said. "We waited this long to find the right opportunity."

As for growing the new office, Smith did not provide a target number of attorneys, but said he hopes Lewis Brisbois will become "a major firm" in the market. He said practically every Fortune 500 client of the firm has Minneapolis exposure.

"Our plan every time we open up an office is to become a leader among the local law firms in the community," he added. And he is "particularly optimistic" about the firm's ability to do that in Minneapolis.

As for other locations where the firm might add lawyers, Smith said they include any big city with a strong industry or service industry community.

"We have our eyes on several cities at all times, but we're patient," he said. "The key to our success is that we're going to have quality people come in because one bad link in the chain can be very damaging."

A spokeswoman for Bowman and Brooke did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday. The firm has about 200 lawyers in 13 offices, according to its website.