NEW YORK (November 27, 2012) — Smith, Gambrell & Russell, LLP (SGR), a full-service, international law firm, announced that it has combined with Hartman & Craven LLP, a New York law firm with a broad-based practice as well as deep roots and knowledge about the New York area market. The combination of the two storied law firms, each with over 90 years of history and service both to clients and the legal profession, was effective October 1, 2012 and doubled the number of SGR attorneys in New York.
Through 2013, the Hartman & Craven attorneys will practice as The Hartman & Craven Law Group of Smith, Gambrell & Russell, LLP. Smith, Gambrell & Russell, LLP will continue to be the firm’s name with headquarters in Atlanta.
The combination joins two culturally compatible, premier firms with established reputations for providing exceptional value and service to clients. Both firms pride themselves on their commitment and responsiveness to their clients and providing efficient cost-effective legal support in a challenging market and difficult economy.
“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 firm-wide, providing greater bench strength and transactional expertise.”
Steve O’Connell and Neal Dorman, co-managing partners of Hartman & Craven, were equally excited. “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,” commented Neal Dorman, who 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,” commented Steve O’Connell, who will become co-managing partner of the combined firm’s New York office. Eliot Zuckerman, a Hartman & Craven partner well recognized as a leader in the cooperative and condo field, is the head of the New York Real Estate Department.
The attorneys from Hartman & Craven joining SGR will relocate from their Madison Avenue office to SGR’s office at 250 Park Avenue. The members of The Hartman & Craven Law Group of Smith, Gambrell & Russell, LLP are:
Marsha G. Ajhar
Sean A. Altschul
Neal T. Dorman
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
Edward A. White
Svetlana Zagorina
Eliot H. Zuckerman