Morgan Lewis, having recently absorbed hundreds of lawyers from the imploded firm Bingham McCutchen, is undergoing more changes with high-level appointments in a number of offices. In recent weeks, the firm has named new managing partners in Miami, Boston, New York, Hartford, Santa Monica, Orange County, Silicon Valley, and new co-managing partners in Washington, Los Angeles, and San Francisco.
A number of these cities are witnessing rapid expansion by law firms eager to capitalize on cross-border deal flow, and Miami provides a case in point. Morgan Lewis’s new managing partner in Miami, Robert Brochin, spoke exclusively to IFLR1000 about some of the changes sweeping southern Florida’s legal markets.
“Florida has long been active for complex commercial litigation and labor and employment disputes, and these are areas where Morgan Lewis has long provided service to our clients from around the world,” he said. “Not only is Florida an avenue for these claims, but Florida’s growing population and Miami’s emergence as an international city mean that the demand in those areas continues to grow along with the demand for lawyers to provide full legal services relating to international transactions.”
Brochin said that his firm represents many financial institutions in the lending creditor space, particularly with regard to mortgages and security instruments. Florida has strong connections to the housing market, whose fortunes affect the state to a far greater extent than many other states, he noted. Given Florida’s status as a judicial foreclosure state, foreclosures must take place in the judicial setting. Morgan Lewis advises numerous financial institutions in defense of consumer class actions and enforcement actions undertaken by attorneys general, he added.
“Florida just became the third largest state in the country, passing New York, and it is projected to become the second largest, passing Texas. We know that the future demand for legal services for our clients is only going to grow,” Brochin stated.
Brochin holds a J.D. from the University of Florida School of Law.