Blank Rome Thursday acquired Houston-based maritime law firm Bell Ryniker & Letourneau.
The Philadelphia firm said the addition of the eight-lawyer group will enhance the Houston presence in that hot legal market that began in earnest in 2011 with the addition of litigation-heavy 10-lawyer Abrams Scott & Bickley. In 2010, Houston-based lawyer Joseph F. Speelman joined Blank Rome as a partner lafter serving as associate general counsel at Dutch chemical maker LyondellBasell. But he had been working out of his house until Blank Rome could find a suitable merger partner.
Bell Ryniker adds maritime and energy practices. Michael K. Bell, Keith B. Letourneau, and Douglas J. Shoemaker join as partners along with two counsels and three associates. According to the firm?s website, the additions now give Blank Rome 17 lawyers in Houston.
Blank Rome?s maritime practice is comprised of 40 professionals based in New York, Washington, D.C., Philadelphia and Houston, which it said is a key market for the maritime and energy industries.
This is the third maritime law firm Blank Rome has acquired in the past decade. It began in 2003 with the addition of Washington-based 45-lawyer Dyer Ellis & Joseph in 2003. In 2006, the firm acquired 23-lawyer Healy & Baillie, a maritime-law firm based in New York with offices in Hong Kong.
Just Wednesday, 500-lawyer Blank Rome said it was closing its Hong Kong office and consolidating its Asia practice in Shanghai, where it opened a location in 2011.
Houston has become a hotbed of activity for law firms looking to capitalize that market?s booming energy industry. Morgan Lewis & Bockius, Duane Morris and Cozen O?Connor are among the other large Philadelphia firms with Houston offices.
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