In a bold legal land grab, Crowell & Moring has scooped up an entire healthcare litigation unit from rival firm Reed Smith, pulling over 40 legal professionals—including 16 partners—into its ranks and planting its flag in Texas with a new Dallas office.
Leading the exodus is Martin Bishop, a former executive committee member at Reed Smith, who now lands at Crowell’s helm as co-chair of its health care group. The acquisition stretches across Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and the newly opened Dallas branch, cementing Crowell’s strategic expansion into the Lone Star State.
Philip Inglima, who chairs the firm’s management board, described the mass migration as a continuation of Crowell’s “all-in” approach to talent acquisition. The firm has been on a hiring spree—recalling its 2018 takeover of Cadwalader’s entire health care group, and the June merger with Boston’s life sciences boutique Faber Daeufer & Itrato, which brought in around 50 more lawyers and staff.
According to Inglima, the incoming group brings not just firepower but familiarity—nearly 20 clients are already shared between the new arrivals and existing Crowell lawyers. Bishop hinted at a smooth transition, having collaborated with his new colleagues before, though he sidestepped naming any specific clients making the leap.
Reed Smith, for its part, offered a diplomatic farewell, framing the departures as an opportunity to “remove certain conflicts” and recalibrate its strategy in the health care space. Translation: fewer legacy entanglements, more room to woo new clients.
Meanwhile, the legal industry saw another notable reshuffling as Womble Bond Dickinson welcomed 20 lawyers from Nashville’s Neal & Harwell—a move that signals the end of the road for the latter, which will shutter by month’s end.
For Crowell & Moring, the Reed Smith raid marks another sharp turn in its high-growth trajectory. And for Reed Smith, it’s the end of an era—and possibly the start of a reinvention.
