US firm Morgan Lewis & Bockius is launching in Seattle, spearheaded by the arrival of 14 lawyers from litigation boutique Calfo Eakes.

The new recruits include prominent trial lawyers Patty Eakes and Angelo Calfo, who join as partners and will co-lead the Seattle office. In total the new office will be home to a team of 34, including 19 lawyers supplemented by existing Morgan Lewis attorneys who were already working remotely in Seattle. 

The combined team will support the firm’s Pacific Northwest client base with a range of commercial and intellectual property litigation, employment disputes and white collar criminal defence and investigation matters.

Jami McKeon, the firm’s chair, said: “Morgan Lewis has been serving clients in Seattle for decades, and we are looking forward to becoming more involved in this vibrant legal and business community with this accomplished and well-respected team.”

In addition to Eakes and Calfo, four other Calfo Eakes litigators join as partners: Alicia Cullen, Damon Elder, Harold Malkin and Molly Terwilliger. Tyler Weaver and Gabe Reilly-Bates join as of counsel. 

The five existing Morgan Lewis partners who have been working remotely in Seattle since the pandemic are IP associates David Bernstein and Matthew Walker, corporate transactions associate Chris Ronne, senior tax attorney Tony Cipriano and employee benefits associate Claire Rowland.

Steve Wall, Morgan Lewis’s managing partner, said: “Having a group of experienced lawyers join us who share clients and who seamlessly integrate with our existing practices allows us to be fully functioning on day one – a benefit to clients, the firm and the incoming lawyers.”

Eakes and Calfo have been running their boutique firm for the past decade, having previously worked together at Yarmuth Wilson Calfo. Prior to her career in private practice, Eakes spent 16 years at the King County Prosecutor’s Office as a senior deputy prosecuting attorney. Calfo also spent time outside private practice as an assistant US attorney between 1989 and 1997. He started his career at Morrison & Foerster in San Francisco in 1986.

The Seattle office is Morgan Lewis's sixth West Coast location, adding to its five offices in California.

Earlier this month, US national firm Fennemore continued its West Coast expansion, agreeing a merger with Northern California firm Wendel Rosen.