Cozen Nabs Fox Rothschild Lawyers in Bankruptcy Practice Boost

Cozen O’Connor landed eight lawyers from Fox Rothschild in a sharp pandemic-era expansion of its bankruptcy and restructuring practice that now allows it to take on cases of any size, the firm said.

The unit grows to 21 attorneys with most of the new arrivals based in Chicago, although the firm plans to practice nationally as bankruptcy filings spike amid corporate financial distress due to the coronavirus hit to the economy.

“We’re effectively doubling the size of our team because we expect that the level of work will be unprecedented over the next two to three years,” Mark E. Felger, co-chair of Cozen’s bankruptcy, insolvency and restructuring practice, told Bloomberg Law.

“This group gives us a bandwidth to take on any case. Prior to this, the largest cases would have been out of our reach, and now they are not. We can take on restructuring cases of any size,” Felger said.

Other firms also are taking steps to add bulk and expertise in one area of law that is growing fast during the pandemic. For instance, Arnold & Porter added former Proskauer Rose partner Maja Zerjal Fink in New York. And Pillsbury added as partners John Pintarelli from Morrison & Foerster and Patrick Fitzmaurice from Troutman Pepper.

New Cozen additions in Chicago include Brian L. Shaw, Ira Bodenstein, Robert M. Fishman, Peter J. Roberts, David R. Doyle, Allen J. Guon and Mark L. Radtke. Thomas Horan will be in Wilmington, Del.

Shaw, a former president of the American Bankruptcy Institute who has focused on financial restructuring and bankruptcy, said being part of Cozen would allow him and his colleague to “draw on a deep bench of highly qualified attorneys in multiple practices and jurisdictions.”

Fox Rothschild had no immediate comment on the group’s departure.

Cozen, based in Philadelphia, has about 750 attorneys in 30 offices.