Hartford Business Journal

18 HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM | OCTOBER 14, 2024 Intellectual Property Southeast-based law firm poaches Cantor Colburn attorneys as part of CT, Northeast expansion By Harriet Jones hjones@hartfordbusiness.com A former partner at Cantor Colburn in Hartford, Grant Ehrlich, has exited the firm with several colleagues, taking his team to a Southeast-based law firm that is establishing its first Connecticut presence. Stites & Harbison is establishing a new Hartford-area base for Ehrlich, attorney Wanli Wu and patent agent Helena Lovick. Also joining the firm from Cantor Colburn to work out of Stites' office in Alexandria, Virginia, are attorney Kimberly Vines and patent agents Youngmin Lee and Samantha Page. "We were really focused on expanding and adding this exper- tise to the group," said Terry Wright, chair of Stites & Harbison's intellectual property and technology group. "We had heard about a group of attorneys that was in this space looking to make a move. It really made sense and made a good fit." With the new additions, the firm now has 30 intellectual property practitioners across its expanding U.S. footprint. "I think it just creates more oppor- tunity," Marjorie Farris, chair of Stites & Harbison, said of the firm's first venture into the Northeast. "The more places you are present doing busi- ness, the more opportunities you're going to have." Before the Hartford move, Louisville, Kentucky-based Stites & Harbison had 11 offices across the South and Midwest, including in Virginia, Georgia, Indiana, Ohio and Tennessee. Ehrlich was previously chair of Cantor Colburn's energy storage, batteries and materials practice group, and brings with him "quite a few" clients, according to Wright. "We've been very busy with this transition," he said. "It's been a whole lot of work." For the moment, Erlich's team has a temporary base at 71 Raymond Road in West Hartford, but the firm is looking to find more permanent space soon. Stites & Harbison's Connecticut market entrance is one of the more significant moves this year within the state's legal industry. Another major deal announced earlier this year was the merger of Connecticut law firm Murtha Cullina with Harris Beach, headquartered in Rochester, New York. The combined firm, which will have over 250 attorneys and 16 offices in four states, will be known as Harris Beach Murtha. Complementary additions According to Wright, this is the latest move in Stites & Harbison's long-term strategy. "The IP group has grown over the years through a series of different acquisitions in different markets," he said. "It has been, for the last 25 years, a real emphasis and area of growth for the firm." Stites & Harbison is particularly strong in engineering, life sciences and biotechnology, Wright said, while the new additions "are focused a lot more on chemistry and materials sciences, so (they) really complement our existing IP practice." The industries Ehrlich has worked with include batteries, fuel cells, thermoelectrics, electrolysis, metal- lurgy and medical devices. He holds a Ph.D. in chemistry from Cornell University. Wu is a patent attorney with a focus on chemistry and material science-related inventions. Prior to her legal career, Wu was a research chemist for eight years for two global pharmaceutical companies. Lovick joined Cantor Colburn just last year, working previously as a research scientist in medical devices and tissue banking. She holds a doctorate in organic chemistry from the University of Washington. Cantor Colburn specializes in patent and IP work, consistently ranking as one of the top patent and trademark firms in the U.S., while Stites & Harbison has a more broadly based practice model, something that Wright says was of interest to the team coming over. "Their client bases have grown and their needs have changed over the years," he said. "They need colleagues in some different areas to better assist their clients and round that out for them. So, instead of referring work to a firm across the street, they're able to keep more of that stuff in house and better service their clients that way." Meanwhile, Farris says she hopes this will be just the beginning of a Northeast presence for Stites. "We would like to continue to build upon this group that we have there in Hartford with some other lawyers as well, perhaps in construction, perhaps also the litigation area," she said, "now that we have a foothold, if you will, to build around." 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