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Gina Passarella
The Legal Intelligencer
03-09-2007

Four partners in the toxic torts practice of Pittsburgh-based Thorp Reed & Armstrong will be leaving the firm for former merger candidate Dinsmore & Shohl.

James Zeszutek, Michael R. Bucci Jr. and P.J. Murray of the Pittsburgh office, and Denise D. Klug of the firm's Wheeling, W.Va., office, told the firm Tuesday that they would be leaving, Managing Partner Douglas E. Gilbert said. All but Klug are going to Dinsmore & Shohl's Pittsburgh office.

Zeszutek was the chairman of the firm's complex civil litigation practice.

Gilbert said he "would surmise" that they would take a few associates with them.

Clifford A. Roe Jr., managing partner of Cincinnati-based Dinsmore & Shohl, said he could not comment on the move at this time.

According to Gilbert, the four partners met Dinsmore & Shohl attorneys last summer while the two firms were in merger talks. Those talks have since ended, but Gilbert said the partners must have created a connection with Dinsmore & Shohl.

"We were all disappointed when the merger didn't occur," Murray said of the group that's leaving. "Our group really wanted to work with Dinsmore."

He said his group tried to get the firms to resume merger discussions, but when that didn't work, Dinsmore & Shohl said it would still be interested in bringing the toxic torts practice on board.

The split was "reasonably" amicable, Gilbert said, because severing a relationship is never a welcomed event. He said he thinks the group felt its practice was a better fit at Dinsmore & Shohl.

"I can't say that's illogical," Gilbert said.

Zeszutek had been with Thorp Reed for 31 years, Bucci for 25 and Murray for 17. Murray said they enjoyed their run at Thorp Reed but wanted to move to a larger firm.

He said the group would most likely make the move to Dinsmore & Shohl around March 13. With that, the firm will be opening a Wheeling office to accommodate Klug, he said.

There are about seven or eight associates in the complex civil litigation practice at Thorp Reed, and Murray said his group made offers to them Tuesday, when they announced their plans to leave. There haven't been any decisions yet as to which associates might make the move, he said.

Gilbert said Thorp Reed's toxic torts practice is not a big area within the 100-attorney firm. He said there are 55 other litigation attorneys that could handle a variety of litigation matters.

"We want to practice products liability law and we have people who practice in that area," Gilbert said, pointing specifically to partner Randolph T. Struk.

Now that the attorneys are moving, Gilbert said the firm would be reorganizing the practice group, formerly known as the complex civil litigation practice. It will now be under the umbrella of the products liability and mass torts group and will be headed up by Struk, Gilbert said.

The majority of Zeszutek, Bucci, Murray and Klug's practice focuses around asbestos and products liability litigation, Gilbert said.

"They have a hefty asbestos defense practice and some measure of a medical device defense practice," he said.

The group will be taking clients to Dinsmore & Shohl, but Gilbert said he was unsure of which ones at this point. He said it would have no financial impact on the firm.

Murray said the details of which clients will be following them over are being worked out now.

Thorp Reed has a great corporate litigation group and a growing construction litigation practice, Gilbert said. The firm is looking to grow its financial, high-tech and corporate litigation practices and its construction litigation group. He said the firm also has a strong business transaction practice representing nonpublicly held companies.

Dinsmore & Shohl currently has four of its 300 attorneys in its Pittsburgh office with three partners and one associate. The group practices in labor and employment and environmental law. The firm also has nearly 40 attorneys spread through its two West Virginia offices. Dinsmore & Shohl also has two offices in Kentucky and three in Ohio.

The firm made the Am Law 200 list for its 2005 financial performance, ranking 190th. It had $100 million in gross revenue, $400,000 in revenue per lawyer and $395,000 in profits per equity partner.