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The merger of Kurowski Shultz of O’Fallon, Illinois, and Manning Gross + Massenberg of Boston is the culmination of relationships that go back 35 years.
John Kurowski, who has practiced law 40 years and founded his firm 35 years ago, has been working with MG+M and its predecessor firms, Cooley Manion Jones and Manion Gaynor & Manning, for decades. Like Kurowski Schultz, the firms specialized in toxic tort litigation, such as mesothelioma and asbestos.
“I had the great pleasure of working with legendary and trial lawyer Earle Cooley,” Kurowski said. “I was handling their asbestos cases nationally, and we became friends." Cooley, who died in 2009, represented high-profile clients such as Red Auerbach and Bill Russell of the Boston Celtics and the Church of Scientology.
Kurowski even helped train MG+M lawyers over the years. “They are a younger firm, and with the merger, I will be the oldest attorney at 65," he said.
That played into Kurowski’s decision to look for a long-term partnership with another firm. “I’m nearing the end of my career, though I don’t want to admit it,” he said.
Kurowski hired a consultant to help find the right match. As a boutique practice with two dozen lawyers and a national reputation, his firm drew a lot of interest. “In the end, four firms approached me. I vetted three others,” he said. ”Manning was the best fit. It’s a strong relationship.”
In addition to the O’Fallon office, Kurowski has offices in New York and Chicago, markets in which MG+M, with 84 lawyers and 11 offices, did not have a presence. “It opens three big markets for them,” Kurowski said, and will enhance the profile of the combined firm.
MG+M gains a strong foothold in a hotbed of tort litigation. St. Louis and Madison County are regularly labeled “judicial hellholes” in the American Tort Reform Association’s annual report.
Kurowski said he expects the O’Fallon office eventually will increase lawyers and staff by about 25 percent as a result of the merger.
The merger is one of 96 nationally so far this year, according to Altman Weil MergerLine. U.S. law firm mergers totaled 102 in 2017, 11 more than the previous high of 91 in 2015.
Other mergers this year involving St. Louis firms:
- Intellectual property firm Senniger Powers merged into Kansas City-based Stinson Leonard Street, which has a large Clayton office.
- Bryan Cave acquired London-based Berwin Leighton Paisner.
- Kansas City-based Baker Sterchi Cowden & Rice acquired Williams Venker & Sanders.
- Sandberg Phoenix acquired Polster Lieder Woodruff & Lucchesi. Both are St. Louis firms.
John Kurowski, who has practiced law 40 years and founded his firm 35 years ago, has been working with MG+M and its predecessor firms, Cooley Manion Jones and Manion Gaynor & Manning, for decades. Like Kurowski Schultz, the firms specialized in toxic tort litigation, such as mesothelioma and asbestos.
“I had the great pleasure of working with legendary and trial lawyer Earle Cooley,” Kurowski said. “I was handling their asbestos cases nationally, and we became friends." Cooley, who died in 2009, represented high-profile clients such as Red Auerbach and Bill Russell of the Boston Celtics and the Church of Scientology.
Kurowski even helped train MG+M lawyers over the years. “They are a younger firm, and with the merger, I will be the oldest attorney at 65," he said.
That played into Kurowski’s decision to look for a long-term partnership with another firm. “I’m nearing the end of my career, though I don’t want to admit it,” he said.
Kurowski hired a consultant to help find the right match. As a boutique practice with two dozen lawyers and a national reputation, his firm drew a lot of interest. “In the end, four firms approached me. I vetted three others,” he said. ”Manning was the best fit. It’s a strong relationship.”
In addition to the O’Fallon office, Kurowski has offices in New York and Chicago, markets in which MG+M, with 84 lawyers and 11 offices, did not have a presence. “It opens three big markets for them,” Kurowski said, and will enhance the profile of the combined firm.
MG+M gains a strong foothold in a hotbed of tort litigation. St. Louis and Madison County are regularly labeled “judicial hellholes” in the American Tort Reform Association’s annual report.
Kurowski said he expects the O’Fallon office eventually will increase lawyers and staff by about 25 percent as a result of the merger.
The merger is one of 96 nationally so far this year, according to Altman Weil MergerLine. U.S. law firm mergers totaled 102 in 2017, 11 more than the previous high of 91 in 2015.
Other mergers this year involving St. Louis firms:
- Intellectual property firm Senniger Powers merged into Kansas City-based Stinson Leonard Street, which has a large Clayton office.
- Bryan Cave acquired London-based Berwin Leighton Paisner.
- Kansas City-based Baker Sterchi Cowden & Rice acquired Williams Venker & Sanders.
- Sandberg Phoenix acquired Polster Lieder Woodruff & Lucchesi. Both are St. Louis firms.
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