It was announced on Thursday that the law firm of Cohen Seglias Pallas Greenhall & Furman, a construction firm, will acquire the New York law firm of Georgoulis & Associates on January 1, 2013. There are three partners and three associates at the Georgoulis firm and will operate as the first fully staffed office in New York for Cohen Seglias, according to the Philadelphia Business Journal.
Cohen Seglias is based in Philadelphia but it has eight other offices in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Delaware, Maryland and West Virginia that houses 53 lawyers. This is the second tiny firm acquired by Cohen Seglias this year. Back in April, Cohen Seglias acquired the Philadelphia firm of Byler & Blaker, which had just two lawyers.
Edward Seglias, the vice president of Cohen Seglias, said earlier in 2012 that the firm was going to look into expanding into North Jersey when the market in construction improves. Seglias spoke with the Philadelphia Business Journal on Thursday, saying that the acquisition helps the firm succeed in its goals since it deals with construction issues in the metro area of New York.
“Georgoulis has an established practice of 25 years representing contractors in that region,” Seglias said. “This allows us to expand our geographic footprint and gain expertise in a new market with a practice that fits with what we do here.”
Seglias also noted that he hopes the firm can expand into the Maryland/Washington area. It had already created an affiliation with Treanor Pope & Hughes in 2010, which is a firm based in Towson, Maryland but that affiliation has since ended.