Quarles exec: Valley law office on ‘rocket ship’ with new hires from fallen competitor
As one storied Phoenix law firm shutters its doors, another is ready to board a “rocket ship” to a new phase of growth.
After more than 80 years in business, Jennings, Strouss & Salmon PLC recently announced it would cease operations at the end of August. That opened the door for Quarles & Brady LLP, among others, to scoop up of some of the firm’s top talent.
Jeff Gardner, the former managing attorney at Jennings Strouss who worked there for a decade, is one of four new additions to leave the firm for Quarles. Gardner declined to discuss the specifics of Jennings’ surprising collapse, though he did note that “the pace of change and the pace of the diversification” of the Phoenix business landscape has accelerated over the years — putting a national firm like Quarles in an excellent position to service a client base that’s spread out across the country.
“You’ve seen strong national firms show interest in coming into Arizona or growing the presence here, and so there’s just a lot of competition for customers,” said Gardner, comparing Phoenix’s rise to other fast-growing cities such as Salt Lake City, Austin and Nashville. “You have strong populations there, but some of these cities have been attracting not just population growth, but the types of businesses you want to have in an emerging city.”
Gardner said “it’s not surprising that you have stiff competition” from law firms eager to establish a strong presence in Phoenix, considering its ascending profile.
“So again, my comments are not in any way shape or form tied to the challenges Jennings was navigating, but more specific to a change in the legal environment as a whole,” Gardner added.
Jason Wood, managing partner of the Quarles’ Phoenix office, said Jennings has long been a “preeminent firm” in Phoenix, noting that Gardner’s team in particular has always been known “to be among the very best at what they do” — including major class action defense work.
“These are highly regarded tacticians. These are the guys you want in your corner when you’re dealing with critical litigation disputes,” Wood said. “The caliber of their skillset is really a nice complement to our lawyers, so I couldn’t be more stoked. I’m looking forward to the future; I really think this is going be a rocket ship.”
Gardner: ‘Excited about the resources and the reach’
The marriage between Quarles and the former Jennings attorneys seemed to be a perfect fit on paper, with Gardner seeking to keep a well-oiled team together and Quarles eager to add a group of veteran lawyers.
Former Jennings Strouss lawyer Jimmie Pursell — a 23-year veteran at the firm — is joining Gardner as a partner in Quarles’ litigation and dispute resolution practice group. Daniel Peabody will join Quarles as an associate, while Daniel Pote joins the Quarles team’s intellectual property (IP) practice group as Of Counsel.
“The team could not be more excited about the resources and the reach,” Gardner said about the move to Quarles. “We love the toughest challenges. We embrace them. We look forward to them, and I know that may sound kind of crazy sometimes, but those are the challenges that really help you grow as an attorney and that help satisfy clients. … It’s something that we embrace, and just to be blunt, we can’t wait to get after it.”
For Gardner, the opportunity to help Quarles clients in Phoenix and across the nation was too good to pass up, especially because his primary work in securities and class action defense “lend themselves to more of a national platform.”
Quarles plans to be ‘pro growth’
For Milwaukee-based Quarles, the talent infusion is a major boon at a time when it’s growing across the board. The national law firm will have 540 attorneys when its new class of associates starts in September, a company representative confirmed. That includes about 90 lawyers in Phoenix, where it was the Phoenix metro’s fourth-largest firm at last count in February. Quarles continues to be aggressive with expansion, growing over the past year through mergers into the San Diego and Denver markets — and Wood indicated more expansion could be announced soon.
Quarles plans to be “very pro growth, but also smart growth” in the Phoenix metro, Wood said. He declined to comment on the firm’s potential real estate needs in the Valley moving forward, other than to say Quarles is always looking “to be located in an area that is convenient to our clients and provides access to all the things lawyers would want.”
He added that Quarles has been nimble enough to continue to serve clients successfully throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, allowing the firm to maintain headcount and office space.
“I won’t comment on the Jennings piece, because I don’t know,” Wood said. “At the end of the day, I think that our firm has been blessed to work with clients and advise them throughout the pandemic.”
With the end of an era at Jennings Strouss, Gardner looks back fondly at his time with the firm.
“I was extraordinarily fortunate to practice alongside some of Arizona’s most gifted attorneys and committed staff at Jennings,” he said. “It was a really special place and it was an honor and I’ll always be grateful for my time there.”