McGuireWoods Absorbs Pasich LLP Lawyers in West Coast Expansion

Two more of Pasich LLP’s founding partners left the firm to join McGuireWoods, with nearly a dozen other attorneys as the boutique ceases operations Monday.

Kirk Pasich and Shaun Crosner, two founding partners of the California boutique, and other former Pasich attorneys will join McGuireWoods’ litigation group. The 11-lawyer group, which specializes in commercial insurance and recovery matters, will be based in Century City, California. Six former Pasich lawyers including Christopher Pasich, Michael Gehrt, Craig Hirsch and Sandra Smith Thayer join as partners.

Mikaela Whitman, another Pasich founding partner, joined McGuireWoods’ Century City office in January 2024.

The move comes as the firm looks to grow its Los Angeles, New York and Texas offices, McGuireWoods’s managing partner Jonathan Harmon said last year. The firm is actively seeking a merger and seeks growth in five practice areas—private equity, health care, energy, high-stakes investigations and litigation, and financial institutions and alternative lenders, Harmon said.

“We have assembled a deep bench of talented lawyers with unmatched experience and ability in complex high-stakes insurance recovery matters,” Tony Tatum, co-leader of McGuireWoods’ insurance recovery practice group said in a statement. “Our new colleagues build on that strength and ensure that McGuireWoods has the dominant insurance recovery practice for policyholders.”

Tatum, Kirk Pasich and Crosner will co-lead the firm’s international insurance recovery practice group. Crosner will focus on the West Coast.

Pasich ceased operations on August 5. Partners Jeffrey Schulman and Stephen Wah left for Blank Rome LLP. Jacquelyn Heitman became part of home builder Seeno Homes’ in-house legal team.

McGuireWoods made more than $1 billion in gross revenue, splitting profits of more $2 million per equity partner, according to data from the American Lawyer.