Fennemore poaches 25 California attorneys in ongoing westward push

(Reuters) - Midsize law firm Fennemore Craig has hired “the substantial majority of the lawyers” working at California-based firm Gresham Savage Nolan & Tilden in its latest western expansion, James Goodnow, the firm’s CEO, said Tuesday.

In addition to adding 25 lawyers, Fennemore Craig hired 25 other legal professionals who will work out of two new offices in San Bernardino and San Diego. The firm now has 11 offices in the U.S.

Goodnow said a small number of staff remain at Gresham Savage and are “winding down” the firm’s operations.

A spokesperson for Gresham Savage did not immediately respond to request for comment Tuesday.

The new group has a strong focus in the areas of real estate, land use and natural resources, said Goodnow.

Phoenix-based Fennemore, which has 193 attorneys, is still focused on further regional growth in the western U.S.

In August, the firm added seven lawyers from a small Denver-based litigation firm, Reilly.

Fennemore first expanded into the California market in 2020, in a merger with Fresno-based, 50-attorney law firm Dowling Aaron. When it was announced in July of that year, it was the largest law firm merger since the COVID-19 pandemic hit the U.S. in March.

“California has, of course, been a real key part of our vision, of where we want to be, and we continue to see a tremendous demand and requests for assistance from our clients [here],” said Goodnow.

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