The law firm of Smith, Gambrell & Russell, LLP announced in a press release on its website that it has combined with the law firm of Hartman & Craven LLP, a firm from New York. Both law firms have over 90 years of history and service to the legal world and clients. The merger became effective on October 1, 2012 and it doubled the number of attorneys working in New York at the office of Smith, Gambrell & Russell.
The attorneys from Hartman & Craven will practice as The Hartman & Craven Law Group of Smith, Gambrell & Russell, LLP through 2013. Smith, Gambrell & Russell, LLP will remain the name of the firm and its headquarters will still be in Atlanta.
“Our entire client base will benefit from this combination,” said Stephen M. Forte, SGR’s Chairman and Managing Partner. “Hartman & Craven’s real estate and corporate transactional capabilities, coupled with their experienced litigation and trusts and estates practices, greatly enhance SGR’s existing capabilities both in New York and firmwide, providing greater bench strength and transactional expertise.”
Steve O’Connell and Neal Dorman, co-managing partners of Hartman & Craven, said the following: “We are extremely pleased to announce the combination of these two firms with a great heritage and a common vision of excellence for the future,” Neal Dorman said. Dorman joined the Executive Committee of Smith, Gambrell & Russell and is the New York Corporate Department head.
“Both firms possess a proven commitment to providing clients with practical, creative solutions, and this union reinforces our long-term strategic growth plan,” Steve O’Connell said. O’Connell is slated to become co-managing partner of the combined firm’s New York office.
The head of the New York Real Estate Department will be Eliot Zuckerman, who was a partner with Hartman & Craven.
The Hartman & Craven attorneys joining Smith, Gambrell & Russell, LLP include the following:
Marsha G. Ajhar
Sean A. Altschul
Tracey L. Daniels
Neal T. Dorman
Amanda R. Evansburg
Peter G. Goodman
Benjamin A. Gorelick
James Lotito
Victor M. Metsch
Stephen W. O’Connell
Anne E. Pitter
Michael P. Regan
Donald L. Rosenthal
Edward Schiff
Aleena R. Shapiro
David J. Weisz
Edward A. White
Svetlana Zagorina
Eliot H. Zuckerman