Thompson Hine Heads West to Los Angeles Adding Boutique Firm

Thompson Hine is opening a Los Angeles office by hiring an 11-lawyer group of litigators from boutique firm Conkle, Kremer & Engel.

The move creates the first West Coast office for Thompson Hine, a roughly 350-lawyer firm founded in Cleveland that brought in $263 million in revenue last year, according to AmLaw data, making it the country’s 146th largest firm by revenue.

The lawyers add employment, intellectual property, construction and general litigation capabilities, Thompson Hine’s managing partner, Anthony White, said in an interview. The firm plans on adding lawyers in Los Angeles that match its broader national practices, including corporate and real estate, White said.

By adding a California office to its Midwest base, White said the firm offers a rare national combination to potential lateral partners and clients: Access to roughly 50 lawyers in New York, but also “price flexibility” delivered through the roughly 50% of the firm’s lawyers being based in the Midwest.

“This is a really transformational event,” White said of the Los Angeles launch. “We have great lawyers in the Midwest at great Midwest rates. That’s a unique national firm, and we’re excited about that being our brand.”

Anthony White

White took the firm’s leadership reins in May, saying at the time the firm was looking to open in new markets and add lateral hires in the eight cities in which it already has offices.

Its most recent launch was in 2019, when the firm moved into Chicago, where it now has more than 25 lawyers.

“We’re going to find clients that want a strong presence in those coastal, large markets like we have as a national firm, but who also want the price flexibility we have with a couple hundred terrific lawyers in the state of Ohio at Midwest rates,” White said.

The partners joining Thompson Hine include John Conkle, Eric Engel, Mark Kremer, Zach Page, Evan Pitchford and Amanda Washton. Others making the move include senior counsel Jeffrey Pearlman, Mark Riedel and Kim Sim Sandell. The associates moving are Chelsea Bernard and Kelly Peterson.

Thompson Hine and the Conkle, Kremer & Engel lawyers have previously worked together as co-counsel on litigation matters, the firm said in a statement. Some of those relationships date back more than a decade, White said.

Joining Thompson Hine will allow the Conkle, Kremer & Engel lawyers to offer clients a broader spectrum of services, Conkle said in a statement, while also noting the firm’s efforts to provide more cost-effective services was appealing.

Thompson Hine developed a new legal service delivery model branded SmartPaTH under previous managing partner Deborah Read, who led the firm from 2012 through May.

“Thompson Hine’s focus on transforming the legal service delivery model by emphasizing predictability, efficiency and transparency is a clear plus for our clients,” Conkle said in a statement. “We look forward to offering our clients the benefits of Thompson Hine’s many years of developing proprietary tools and top legal technology resources.”