It’s been just nine months since LeClairRyan touted the addition of an eight-attorney real estate group from Epstein Becker & Green as the latest in a string of moves aimed at making the Richmond-based firm’s New York office one of its largest. As of Monday, six of those lawyers have left for new firms.
The defectors include Adrian Zuckerman, who led the group out of Epstein and joined LeClair as cohead of its real estate industry group. In January, Zuckerman jumped to Seyfarth Shaw with three others from LeClair, his new firm announced Monday.
Joining Zuckerman in making the move to Seyfarth as partners were Cynthia Mitchell, a shareholder at LeClair, and Linda Bielik, who had been a partner at LeClair, the firm’s term for those with nonequity status. Former LeClair partner Ralph Berman joined Seyfarth as counsel. Seyfarth also announced Monday that is has hired real estate partners Mitchel Hill and Juan Reyes from Troutman Sanders and Reed Smith, respectively. All six officially started between January 22 and January 25.
Of the group that joined LeClair from Epstein last May, partner Andrea Lawrence left last month for New York boutique Barton, and shareholder Scott Drago departed a few weeks ago, a person answering the phone at LeClairRyan confirmed, though it was unclear as of Monday where he has landed.
Among the former Epstein lawyers, only shareholder Barry Cozier, a labor and employment lawyer and former New York state court judge, and associate Lauren Margiano remain at LeClair. Reached Monday, Cozier had no comment on what may have caused the team to splinter. Lawrence would not comment beyond saying that Barton was a better fit for her real estate litigation practice.
In an email, Zuckerman said the move to Seyfarth reunites him with old friends and former colleagues, and that the larger size of both the firm overall and its real estate group specifically helps make it "a perfect fit" for his team’s practice. Seyfarth has more than 800 lawyers compared to LeClair’s less than 350.
