The merger between Houston-based Novak Druce + Quigg and Wilmington, Del.-based Connolly Bove Lodge & Hutz is set for Jan. 1, 2013. Partners in both intellectual property firms voted during the last week in November to approve a merger, talks of which Tex Parte blog reported in September.
The merged firm will be known as Novak Druce Connolly Bove + Quigg, and it will have offices in Houston, Wilmington, San Francisco, Silicon Valley, Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., and West Palm Beach, Fla.
Gregory V. Novak, the Washington, D.C.-based managing partner of Novak Druce who will be managing partner and CEO of the new firm, says the it expects to open two new offices in short order, perhaps as soon as Jan. 1, 2013.
“We are in active discussions with at least two groups,” he says of the talks with lawyers who may join the firm in two new cities.
With the merger approved by partners, Novak says a consolidated management team is already in place. “In many ways, we are already acting as one firm,” he says.
As to the effect on the firm’s Texas office, Novak says areas such as compensation will be “about the same” for the Texas lawyers, and the biggest changes will be positive, such as providing lawyers with a larger group of offices and a bigger client base. The combined firm will have 130 to 135 lawyers when it opens, Novak says.
— Brenda Sapino Jeffreys
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