US national firm Baker Donelson has expanded its footprint into the country’s northeast with the hire of a 26-lawyer team from Epstein Becker Green. 

The group of lawyers practising across healthcare transactions, litigation and real estate has joined to open the firm’s first offices in the region, in Princeton and Iselin in New Jersey. 

Baker Donelson chair and CEO Timothy Lupinacci said a key element of the firm’s growth plans was improving its ability to serve clients as “trusted advisors with industry depth and proactive counsel”.

He added: “This includes growth both within our existing footprint and beyond, so when we saw the opportunity to build significantly upon one of our strongest industries by adding a large group of the leading attorneys in that field who are laser-focused on exceptional client service, we knew it was the right move.” 

Baker Donelson said its health law group had long been among the 10 largest health law practices in the US, with more than 200 attorneys in 11 states and the District of Columbia. 

Michaela Poizner, chair of Baker Donelson’s health law and public policy department, said the team’s hire “not only builds on our existing national practice but also deepens our capabilities in areas we’ve been intently focused on expanding, including private equity transactions and payor-provider litigation.

The incoming team includes 17 shareholders, eight of whom specialise in healthcare transactions, seven in healthcare and commercial litigation and one in real estate matters. The group is completed by two of counsel and seven associates. 

Among the new shareholders are Gary Herschman, who will serve as co-chair of Baker Donelson’s healthcare transactions group, and Anjana Patel, who will act as managing shareholder of the Iselin and Princeton offices. They have practised together for more than 25 years on healthcare transactions matters. 

Also joining as a shareholder is healthcare litigator Anthony Argiropoulos, who was chair of the national litigation steering committee at Epstein Becker. His work has included obtaining an arbitration award of $110m against United Healthcare on behalf of national emergency care provider Envision Healthcare. Real estate specialist Andrew Kaplan, who served as managing shareholder of Epstein Becker’s Princeton office, is also among the incoming team. 

At Baker Donelson the group will work as part of a firm that is roughly twice the size of Epstein Becker by headcount, with 638 lawyers according to data published by the American Lawyer. 

Herschmann told American Lawyer in an interview that Baker Donelson offered the team more extensive resources across areas such as tax, intellectual property and bankruptcy that its members needed as their practices grow, which Epstein Becker – a boutique which focuses on healthcare and labour and employment – did not offer. 

Huntsville, Tennessee-based Baker Donelson sits just outside the Am Law 100 and brought in revenue of $461m in 2023, according to data published by Law.com. 

The firm’s expansion into New Jersey brings its office count to 26 and follows it hiring an eight-lawyer team from Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough to open an office in Charlotte, North Carolina, last year. The Carolinas’ hot legal market also saw the firm hire four lawyers from Womble Bond Dickinson and southeast firm Parker Poe to open in Charleston in 2022, having set up shop in Raleigh the year before with a team of healthcare lawyers. 

James Flynn, managing director of Epstein Becker, commented: “This New Jersey-based group that joined us 10 years ago has moved to another firm, without a northeast presence, relieving certain conflict pressures. We appreciate the contributions of our former colleagues and wish them well.

“Epstein Becker Green will continue our national super boutique focused strategy through our core practices of healthcare and life sciences; employment, labour and workforce management; and litigation. We continue to invest in the people and practices that enable us to serve the leading employers in all industries, healthcare providers, and other healthcare and life sciences industry players throughout the United States with their most important legal issues and business strategies.”