Blank Rome’s Pittsburgh Leaders on Steel City Growth Spurt
Closing in on a year after taking over as co-chairs of Blank Rome LLP's office in Pittsburgh, Amy Coles and Roy Arnold have targeted lateral hires who will enhance the firm's regional talent as well as its overall offerings.
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Coles and Arnold recently sat down with Law360 Pulse to share their experiences throughout their first year managing Blank Rome's Pittsburgh office. Responses have been edited for length and clarity.
You are in the midst of your first year as co-chairs of the Pittsburgh office. Can you describe what the past nine months have been like?
Arnold: Amy and I have been actively meeting with lateral partner candidates throughout our first nine months of the year, culminating with the recent additions of four lateral lawyers. It takes some time to make sure you land the right people. We are talking to people on a regular basis.
Coles: At the beginning of the year, Roy and I set goals to expand Blank Rome's Pittsburgh presence and further establish the office's reputation in the city. We're thrilled with the growth of the office over the last nine months, which includes Tim Lewis, Brandy Ringer, Andrew Cross and Alexander Bell, with more attorneys joining our ranks soon. We hope the fall and winter recruiting season will be an active one for our office.
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You've had some recent additions to the roster, most notably Judge Tim Lewis from Schnader Harrison. What is attracting attorneys to the Pittsburgh office?
Arnold: I think it's because we have a really close-knit group of partners who like practicing together and supporting one another. The lateral candidates can sense that readily. I can't underline enough how important that is. Our office's practices and the individual lawyers compete above their weight class many times. We do very high-end work, and laterals see that synergy with their own practices. They then find it is an attractive place to move their practices.
We want the practices brought by individual lawyers to fit within the office. It allows us to have a strong local office that can tap into the broader firm resources.
Coles: In addition to what Roy said, the firm is performing strongly, as is the Pittsburgh office. We put an emphasis on maintaining our culture above all else, but also do complex work and collaborate with talented attorneys across Blank Rome's national platform. Those factors make the firm and our office an outstanding place to work.
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"Blank Rome’s Pittsburgh Leaders on Steel City Growth Spurt," by James Boyle was published in Law360 Pulse on September 26, 2023.