With the merger of law firms Harris Beach and Murtha Cullina comes a new moniker, new opportunities and aligned cultures.
As of Jan. 1, the combined firm is called Harris Beach Murtha, with more than 250 attorneys in 16 offices across several states. This includes an office in The Omni building in Uniondale, where the firm, according to its website, has 30 attorneys.
"We're creating a regional powerhouse that enables us to capitalize on the skills that we've got at Harris Beach and the skills that we've got at Murtha Cullina," said Chris Jagel, former Harris Beach CEO.
"That's going to make all of those combined skills available to our respective clients, enabling us to service clients in new geographies," said Jagel, who is now CEO of Harris Beach Murtha.
The merger brings Harris Beach, with its offices in Uniondale, New York City, White Plains, Albany, Rochester, Buffalo, Syracuse, Ithaca, Saratoga Springs, New Haven, Conn., Washington D.C., and Newark, NJ, together with Murtha Cullina, with locations in White Plains and Boston, as well as in Connecticut, in Stamford, New Haven and Hartford.
"When you put together a combination like this, there's a lot of metrics and numbers that you will get that lined up very well for the two firms in terms of the types of clients we serve, the type of rates we have, the geographies," said Andy Corea, former managing partner of Murtha Cullina, and now managing partner of Harris Beach Murtha.
"But we are both professional service providers and that means that our work comes from people. We don't crank out machine parts. It's not a factory. It's not a conveyor belt. So, for this to work, the people have to work well together," Corea said.
The two cultures aligning together is "paramount" to the merger, said Tom Garry, the managing partner of the firm's Long Island office.
When merger talks first began, it was evident that the partners at both firms liked each other and their way of doing business, Garry said. After meeting by day, they'd join again at dinner "and it became apparent to us that culturally we were very compatible."
Consider, for example, the stress of COVID-19. Garry said that during and post-pandemic, leaders at Harris Beach saw firsthand that if "you treat people well, it comes back" in terms of team-member retention and loyalty. "I've heard from the Murtha Cullina partners that they had similar experiences," he said.
Jagel said the merger was "client driven."
"This is really an effort by the two firms to create a larger, more capable firm that is able to serve more of the needs of our clients," Jagel said.
With the merger, Garry said, he can now offer his New York-based clients expertise in doing business in New England, just as the Murtha side can offer expertise for their clients seeking opportunities in New York.
Looking ahead, Garry sees further opportunities for the firm on Long Island.
"Business opportunities are very robust in Suffolk County," a region that Garry said he is "incredibly bullish about." Ed Romaine, the new Suffolk County executive, "is talking about the need for infrastructure improvements in Suffolk," Garry said. "He knows that you need sewers, water and roads for economic opportunity to happen, and the county is doing that. If you're a business, you recognize that."
The Murtha team is "very strong" in its energy, healthcare and litigation practices, Garry said. "We're going to be well-positioned to help those industries, very, very well."