If the recent flurry of small firm and solo acquisitions is any indication, many midsize firms are starting the year in "growth mode."

Since the start of the year, at least three midsize firms in the Philadelphia and South Jersey regions have announced moves to grow their numbers through additions of smaller law firms of between one and three lawyers. Although the specific reasons for each link-up differ, law firm leaders agree that some broader market forces are at play pushing their firms into "growth mode."

"To stay competitive in this market, you need to be able to expand your practice areas. If you don't grow, there's a good chance you might become irrelevant," said Kang Haggerty managing partner Edward Kang said. "Many firms our size are actively looking to grow. It's the best way to stay competitive."

Although Kang's Philadelphia-based firm focuses on plaintiffs side business litigation, firms on the other side of the "v"—and Delaware River—are saying the same thing.

"There is significant demand for our services, and we try to be extremely responsive to our clients," Frank Lauletta, who leads Sewell, New Jersey-headquartered Lauletta Birnbaum, said. "You can either stop taking on new clients, or you can grow. And, in order to grow, we feel it's important to do so with great people."

In recent days, both firms have announced acquisitions of smaller firms, along with their paralegals and support staff.

On Jan. 21, Kang Haggerty announced the acquisition of Ferrara Law Group. The move means three lawyers and two paralegals will be joining the firm, bringing head count up to 21. About two weeks before that announcement, 28-lawyer Lauletta Birnbaum, which also has an office in Philadelphia, announced it was acquiring Howell & Berman Law, a small firm in Hammonton, New Jersey, and was also bringing on litigator Michael Donio, as well as his longtime paralegal.

At the start of the month, 24-lawyer full service firm High Swartz also announced it had brought on general practitioner Vincent A. Guarna, who ran a solo practice focusing on construction, corporate law, civil litigation and real estate transactions. According to High Swartz, acquiring the solo practice allows the Doylestown-based firm to now expand its presence into Lower Bucks County, as well as northeast Philadelphia.

According to Lauletta, acquiring the two attorneys also allows his firm to move into a new geographic market his firm is looking to capitalize on. The growth is "all based on demand," Lauletta said, adding that he hopes to grow his firm to around 50 attorneys within the next two years.

Since Lauletta Birnbaum acts as outside counsel for a few-dozen companies, his firm has been well-positioned for opportunity, as rates have spiked in recent years at larger firms. As legal spend increasingly comes under scrutiny from clients, smaller firms like his are poised to capture more work that clients traditionally would have sent to the larger firms, Lauleta said.

"There's more of a business focus on how we complete their work," Lauletta said, adding that many companies are opting to split their work between small and large firms, rather than sending all their work to one large one. "Probably 75% of the work [the clients have], they don't need big firms for."

Kang said his firm also is experiencing an updraft in work and hoping that growing head count will allow them to capitalize on the trend.

Although it's been several years since the firm hired a sizable group of lawyers, the firm is now pivoting into growth mode, Kang said, noting that the firm recently moved office space in anticipation of adding talent—now occupying two floors in its Center City, Philadelphia, headquarters.

The firm had previously looked at acquiring firms in New York and Washington, D.C., Kang said, but ultimately determined the fit wasn't right. Bringing on Ferrara Law Group, however, offered a perfect match, Kang said, as the move will now allow the firm to keep more of the work it used to refer out. Kang Haggerty focuses on plaintiff-side business litigation, including antitrust and whistleblower litigation, and Ferrara focused on employment litigation. Kang said there are often employment law related issues that spin out from these types of suits, and so now, instead of needing to refer that work out, the firm will have a deep enough bench ]of employment attorneys to service those claims on its own.

Since his firm often goes up against Big Law, Kang said that also bringing on more talent and resources is a way to keep a competitive edge over opposing counsel. The lawyers joining Kang Haggerty come from large firms, including the former Drinker, Biddle & Reath (now Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath) and Obermayer Rebmann Maxwell & Hippel.