February 16, 2011 3:08 PM

Jones Day Snags Nine More Howrey Partners; Ropes Eyeing IP Litigator

Posted by Brian Baxter

One day after losing a handful of partners to Hogan Lovells, Howrey's San Francisco office is losing seven construction partners to Jones Day, according to The Recorder, a sibling publication.

The group includes Stephen O'Neal, the former chairman of now-defunct Thelen who brought more than 40 lawyers to Howrey in November 2008. Now after months of seeing partners depart from other practice groups, Howrey appears to be on the verge of having its construction practice split up.

The Recorder reports that O'Neal will take with him David Buoncristiani, Kent Lindsay, Clark Thiel, John Foust, Jr., Daven Lowhurst, and Aaron Gruber to Jones Day. Robert Mittelstaedt, partner-in-charge of Jones Day's San Francisco office, confirmed the lateral hires to The Recorder. Not making the move: John Heisse II, whom The Recorder notes is a prominent member of the construction group that originally came from Thelen.

Jones Day also announced on Tuesday that it had recruited Howrey IP litigators William Rooklidge and Frank Coté to join its office in Irvine, Calif. Rooklidge previously served as cochair of Howrey's IP practice, while Coté handles patent, trademark, and trade secrets litigation.

The Recorder reports that another Howrey IP litigator, James Batchelder in Palo Alto, is headed for Ropes & Gray, according to two lawyers familiar with the move. Ropes declined to comment on any hire, as did Batchelder, a former name partner at IP boutique Day Casebeer Madrid & Batchelder, which was acquired by Howrey in June 2009.

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