Philadelphia firm snaps up Boston practice

The new entity - which combines the 250-lawyer strength of the Philadelphia firm with the Boston based 50-attorney general practice - will be renamed Schnader Harrison Goldstein & Manello.

Goldstein's managing partner, Robert Somma says his firm has been seeking a big merger partner since the summer of 1998 but until now have been unable to find the right match.

The merger, he says, will allow his firm to offer more services without having to farm work out to outside firms.

Last year Schnader opened a San Francisco office with the attorneys it took from the now-closed Bronson Bronson & McKinnon and took lawyers from the dissolving Pittsburgh firm, Titus & McComomy.

Schnader's chairman, Ralph Wellington, says that further expansion is on the cards.