Ellenoff Grossman & Schole Announces the Addition of Seven Lawyers from IP Boutique, Leichtman Law: Second Major Combination for EGS in Two Weeks

EGS continues strategic growth, deepens IP capabilities, and expands litigation reach

NEW YORK, Jan. 13, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Ellenoff Grossman & Schole (EGS) today announced that four partners and three associates, including Managing Partner David Leichtman of Leichtman Law, a premier intellectual-property and litigation boutique, have joined EGS, effective January 1, significantly deepening the firm's IP and business litigation bench and expanding capabilities for clients nationwide.

This announcement follows last week's news that all the lawyers from litigation powerhouse Kaplan Rice joined EGS, bringing founders Howard Kaplan and Michelle Rice and their nationally recognized trial practice to the firm. With Kaplan Rice's high-stakes securities and financial services litigation and white-collar capabilities combined with Leichtman Law's premier IP litigation team, EGS has significantly expanded its dispute-resolution platform in just two weeks, creating one of the strongest, most versatile litigation groups among mid-market law firms.

With this move, Leichtman Law clients gain the support of a full-service, coast-to-coast platform with broad transactional and litigation capabilities; EGS gains a leading IP litigation team representing top-tier companies in high-stakes matters. David Leichtman, founder of Leichtman Law, will lead EGS's Intellectual Property practice group.

"This combination elevates our firm at a pivotal moment," said Douglas S. Ellenoff, Managing Partner of Ellenoff Grossman & Schole. "This team's reputation and client base expands our IP capabilities and strengthens our existing platform. With nearly150 lawyers, we remain a strong, independent mid-market firm in an era when firms our size are rapidly disappearing. We consider our size an advantage, and so do our clients. We are among the most transactionally active mid-market firms in the country outside of the AmLaw 200, and we are committed to growing our practices strategically where it benefits our clients most."

Since its founding, EGS has expanded steadily. In 2025 alone, the firm added 23 laterals and seven first year associates and increased its office space by 20,000 square feet, adding 50 new attorney offices connected by an internal staircase, bringing the firm's footprint at its headquarters office on 1345 Avenue of the Americas to 60,000 square feet. There are now 110 lawyers working from the firm's New York headquarters. "We are in growth mode, and adding this IP practice hits one of the key sweet spots of our strategy," Ellenoff added.

For Leichtman Law, this move brings scale, added resources, and broader service offerings. "This increases our capacity on multiple fronts," said David Leichtman. "With the talented IP team at EGS, we will have more bandwidth to handle our clients' IP and commercial litigation needs. Leichtman Law can also now provide sophisticated transactional capabilities to its litigation clients, something the firm could not offer as an IP and trial boutique."

Additionally, Leichtman Law adds commercial litigation capabilities that complement EGS's existing practices and the securities and financial-services litigation services that are now available through the recent addition of the lawyers from Kaplan Rice.

Leichtman added that he was drawn to EGS's leadership and culture. "I am particularly impressed with the entrepreneurial mindset of Ellenoff's management team – their flexibility, forward-looking strategy, and desire to add top-quality capabilities for clients. The firm has an upcoming generation of strong leaders that we look forward to working with as we continue to grow, including in the biotech sector and other innovation-driven industries."

From EGS's perspective, the combination further enhances the firm's attractiveness to laterals and clients alike. The addition of 15 lawyers from Kaplan Rice and Leichtman Law strengthens the firm's capabilities and identity as a full-service mid-market firm, moving beyond its national reputation as a primarily transactional, capital markets and SPAC-focused firm.

"This is an inflection point for our firm," Ellenoff said. "We are building a broader, deeper platform that meets clients' needs across litigation, transactions, and regulatory matters, without losing the quality, efficiency and agility that define us as a mid-market firm."

About Ellenoff Grossman & Schole LLP

Ellenoff Grossman & Schole LLP is a corporate focused law firm comprised of nearly 150 professionals, offering its clients legal services in a broad range of business-related matters. Founded in 1992, the Firm specializes in many areas of commercial law: Corporate, Securities, Real Estate, Broker-Dealer Regulation, Private Investment Funds, Intellectual Property, Litigation, Labor, Employment, ERISA, Executive Compensation, Tax and Estate Planning.

The philosophy of the Firm is to provide the highest quality legal advice and counsel, dedicating consistent, personalized attention to each client at a reasonable price. Due to our Firm's significant experience and expertise in the areas of practice in which we specialize, we believe that we provide greater efficiency of service and, consequently, reduce actual and time expense to our clients.

Learn more about Ellenoff Grossman & Schole LLP at www.egsllp.com.

SOURCE Ellenoff Grossman & Schole LLP