Kansas City, Missouri-based Am Law 200 firm Spencer Fane LLP entered the California market this month via a merger with Pahl & McCay.
In the deal made effective on Oct. 1, Spencer Fane – a full-service business law firm – now has a foothold in Santa Monica, where five attorneys have remained from Pahl & McCay. Karen McCay, a name partner to the former firm, will serve as the partner in charge of this office as well as the location in San Jose, where Pahl & McCay was formerly headquartered.
McCay said it was an “easy decision” to join Spencer Fane after getting to know Managing Partner Pat Whalen and the firm’s other executive committee members.
“Once we got to know who they were, where they emphasized their values, those issues were very consistent with what we hold as very important,” she said. “We’re going to be able to offer a much broader range of services to our clients.”
Terms of the merger were not disclosed.
Pahl & McCay was formed in 1989 as a corporate, business and litigation firm in San Jose. McCay joined in 1997 and helped to launch the office in Santa Monica, which has since hosted established multifamily residential, compliance and litigation groups.
“We had a lot of clients who had needs in Southern California, so based on their needs we launched that office,” McCay said.
Holdovers in Santa Monica include partner Theresa Becerra, associates Marcanne Hyjek and Alexandra Samofalova, and of counsel Lisa Tracy. Associate Ernesto Prado was also in the process of being hired at the time of the merger and joined the firm on Oct. 16.
Fifteen attorneys in total have joined the firm with the merger.
“Being 15 attorneys in two offices, there’s a limit to the scope of services we can offer,” McCay said. “With this combination, it’s really going to give us the opportunity to give our clients more legal advice and services. I really think that it’s one of those situations where two plus two is going to be much, much more than four.”
Whalen, who has been with Spencer Fane for 27 years and managing partner for 10, said culture was a major factor in the move, as well as Pahl & McCay’s extensive multifamily-housing experience.
“They certainly could have joined forces with hundreds of other firms, and I know they’ve been approached by many,” Whalen added. “I think we’re very similar in terms of client bases that we serve. There’s a lot of alignment in terms of not just the sectors that we focus on but the clients in those sectors.”
As with many firms, Spencer Fane had a growing need to finally set up shop in California, where many of its clients do business. Whalen said he expected to have measured growth in the Santa Monica office, with the location being a selling point.
“It’s a nice alternative,” he said. “Folks I think are probably coming back to the office a little bit more than in downtown. There wasn’t going to be one place that was super-convenient, but I think Santa Monica is going to give us relatively central access to the client base we have in Southern California.”
