Westwood health care and life sciences boutique law firm Nelson Hardiman LLP is merging with full-service Pittsburgh firm Leech Tishman. The merger will be effective Oct. 1.
The deal brings all 17 of Nelson Hardiman’s attorneys into the fold, preserving the Westwood office. While Leech Tishman remains the firm name, it will do business as Leech Tishman Nelson Hardiman in California.
“For years, we have been looking for the right platform to meet client needs on a national basis and with broader commercial resources,” said Nelson Hardiman founder Harry Nelson in a statement. “In the past decade, we were flattered to receive well over 100 offers from larger law firms nationwide, but until we met and got to know Leech Tishman, we could never quite get comfortable with any another firm’s culture, values, and commitment to delivering real value to clients.”
Founded in 2004, Nelson Hardiman has built a reputation in California as one of the top health care- and bioscience-focused legal operations. The merger introduces that practice group to Leech Tishman and opens up a larger network of attorneys to that clientele and the full range of practice groups that might be relevant to their needs.
“We couldn’t be more excited by the opportunities to offer broader and deeper resources for both current and prospective clients,” Leech Tishman managing partner Pete Fuscaldo said in a statement. “Over the past year, our firms have already built a strong collaborative working relationship for the mutual benefit of our clients, giving us the confidence that there was a fit in our shared core values and our commitment to client service and innovation. We can’t wait for clients to experience the value this combination unlocks.”
Nelson now chairs the new Leech Tishman health care practice and serves as co-managing partner of the Los Angeles operation alongside Sanford Frey from Leech Tishman’s Pasadena office. The merger brings that operation to 39 total attorneys and 140 firmwide.
“In a time when the legal practice has gotten increasingly mercenary in many firms, we feel we have found a true partner and a new home at Leech Tishman,” Nelson said. “We are excited to become their Healthcare Practice Group, and to make this strategic combination the answer for the demands of the rapidly transforming healthcare and life science industries, enabling us to lean even deeper into meeting client needs.”
This merger is just the latest in the L.A. market.
Milwaukee firm Michael Best & Friedrich LLP in July combined with Brentwood venture capital boutique O&A P.C. to enter the L.A. market. Similarly, in October, Spencer Fane LLP entered California in a merger with Pahl & McCay, which gave it a Santa Monica office. In August 2023, Barton Klugman & Oetting LLP merged with Clark Hill and Saul Ewing LLP entered the L.A. market by merging with Freeman Freeman & Smiley.
Nelson & Hardiman’s specialty is in vogue right now, especially in Southern California. National firm Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo P.C. in May bolstered its life sciences practice with an 11-attorney team at its downtown outpost.
