Chicago’s Seyfarth Shaw has emerged as the frontrunner to take on the highly sought-after San Francisco office of dissolving Altheimer & Gray.
The office, which only opened last September, has been the subject of a bidding war between four or five firms in the region.
Last week, Seyfarth Shaw, which has around 50 lawyers in San Francisco, recruited international tax partner Graham Taylor and two assistants from Altheimer. It is understood that the firm is now considering taking on the rest of the San Francisco office, which contains five partners and nine associates.
Taylor only joined the Altheimer office in November last year, moving from LeBoeuf Lamb Greene & MacRae. He took with him business worth between $3m (£1.9m) and $4m (£2.5m).
It is understood that the office had been courted by 15-20 other firms since Altheimer’s decision to dissolve, but only a handful made serious overtures about taking on the office.