Meckler Bulger Tilson Marick & Pearson Continues National Expansion, Opens San Francisco Office

CHICAGO, April 18, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- The Chicago-based law firm of Meckler Bulger Tilson Marick & Pearson LLP (MBT) continues to expand nationally with the opening today of its new office in San Francisco - at 575 Market Street. The office will be led by seven new partners, including a group of recognized national leaders in insurance and labor and employment law from the San Francisco law firms of Sedgwick LLP and Long & Levit LLP.  

Joining MBT from Sedgwick will be Julia Molander, who specializes in insurance counseling and litigation. She will serve as managing partner of MBT's San Francisco office. Other new partners include four attorneys from Long & Levit:  

• Howard Garfield , insurance, employment and professional liability  
• Irene Yesowitch, insurance counseling and litigation, and professional liability
• Jason Geller, labor and employment litigation
• Karen Uno, insurance counseling and litigation

Also joining the San Francisco office will be Dan Crawford, the Executive Vice-President and General Counsel of the California-based business insurance brokerage firm of Edgewood Partners Insurance Center, which is ranked among the fastest growing privately held companies in California.  In addition to his duties as general counsel, Crawford will become a partner at MBT, specializing in insurance and employment litigation.  

Rounding out the group of partners leading MBT's new San Francisco office will be Fulton Smith III of the San Francisco-based Barber Law Group.  Smith specializes in insurance coverage and litigation. In addition, four associates will join MBT's San Francisco office: Juan Araneda and David Borovsky, from Long & Levit, who both specialize in insurance and employment litigation; Teri Mae Rutledge, from the Barber Law Group, and T.J. Reichert from the Law Office of Semha Alwaya, who both concentrate in insurance coverage and litigation.

The San Francisco office represents MBT's largest acquisition to date - with other recent national expansions into Dallas and Phoenix - and will offer the full range of MBT's practice areas, including insurance, labor and employment, litigation and legal fee audits.

Bruce Meckler, co-chair of MBT said: "We have always had a distinct presence in San Francisco and throughout California. We are opening the San Francisco office in response to this demand for our expertise in insurance, labor and employment, litigation and legal audit matters, as well as in all of our practice areas."

Meckler adds, "As we continue to experience growth in all of our practice areas, San Francisco offers us the opportunity to further expand into a vibrant legal market - with a team of local attorneys who have deep roots in the San Francisco Bay Area, and whose skills are recognized throughout the nation."  

Joe Tilson, MBT's other co-chair and founding member of the Labor and Employment practice, said:  "We have an extensive labor and employment practice in California, which will be enhanced by a physical presence and a West Coast base for our labor and employment attorneys. We are fortunate in that we found the right people at the right time to open and staff this office.  We are thrilled to have a lawyer of Jason Geller's caliber to lead our California labor and employment practice."  

On behalf of all the attorneys joining MBT's San Francisco office, Julia Molander said: "This is a rare opportunity to further develop our practices in concert with some of the country's top attorneys at MBT – and for us to help the firm both in servicing its existing clients as well as expanding its presence in California."

MBT's insurance and reinsurance practice is comprised of many of the country's leading insurance attorneys, representing insurance companies both nationally and internationally in all aspects of insurance coverage and litigation.  

The firm has one of the five largest labor and employment law practices in Chicago, offering the full range of labor and employment law services to many of the country's leading private and public sector employers.

In addition, MBT is one of only a handful of law firms nationally with a full service legal audit practice group concentrating on issues involving professional services provided by attorneys and other fiduciaries, as well as governmental and corporate compliance and misconduct investigations. Since its inception, the Legal Audit Group has developed a national reputation as a pioneer and leader in legal fee bill reviews.  The firm's attorneys also specialize in a wide range of litigation and trial proceedings including: commercial litigation, professional liability defense, environmental litigation and counseling, federal criminal defense and eminent domain.  

MBT has experienced a steady and defined growth since its founding in Chicago with 16 attorneys in 1994. In 2007, MBT expanded nationally into Dallas and Phoenix legal markets.  With the addition of the San Francisco office, the firm now numbers more than 100 attorneys, ranking it among the top 35 largest law firms in Chicago.  

MBT is headquartered in Chicago, with full service offices in Dallas, Phoenix, and now in San Francisco. For more information on MBT, visit www.mbtlaw.com.

SOURCE Meckler Bulger Tilson Marick & Pearson LLP