Williams Mullen is headquartered at 200 S. 10th St. in downtown Richmond. (BizSense file photo)
One of the giants of the Richmond legal scene has struck a deal to get bigger – but don’t call it a merger.
Williams Mullen is in the process of adding to its ranks nearly all the attorneys from Shockoe Slip law firm KVCF, formerly known as Kaplan Voekler Cunningham & Frank.
The move brings over 10 of KVCF’s 12 lawyers and effectively will lead to the winding down of that firm, which was founded in 2006.
The new additions also will bring Williams Mullen’s attorney count to more than 260, the largest it has been since shortly after the Great Recession, according to president and CEO Woody Fowler.
While the combination has the feel of a merger, both sides say it’s not quite the case.
Mainly due to two different corporate structures – KVCF being a partnership and Williams Mullen a professional corporation – the KVCF group is simply joining the Williams Mullen fold as new hires.
The group of 10 set to start with Williams Mullen over the course of the next month are KVCF namesakes Tom Voekler and Chip Cunningham, along with Mehanna Borostyan, Ed Flanagan, Cindy Heidel, Stephanie Karn, Kathy Lawrence, Melanie Ramsey, John Watson and Rhys James.
“We’ve worked on it for years,” Fowler said of the firm’s courting of KCVF. “We’ve been talking for about five to six years about how it would be a good fit. Earlier this year they said, ‘Maybe it’s time to have a more serious conversation.’”
He said Williams Mullen was interested in KVCF’s specialty in real estate transactional work, employment work for colleges and universities and, particularly, its securities practice that helps businesses and real estate ventures raise capital.
“The biggest piece is their corporate and securities practice,” Fowler said. “We do some of that work, but they do a whole lot of work there. This is a place where adding their expertise and their client base was really an additive to us.”
KVCF will be moving out of its office at 1401 E. Cary St. in Shockoe Slip.
Voekler, who joined what was then known as Kaplan & Frank in 2012, said the move also was driven in part by KVCF’s own real estate needs. The firm’s lease at its headquarters at 1401 E. Cary St. is coming due at year’s end, causing it to think ahead.
“It kind of accelerated because we are supposed to be out of this space in September and were looking at what are the next steps for the firm,” Voekler said.
Tom Voekler
While it has been a target of many other larger firms over the years, Voekler said KVCF liked Williams Mullen for the seamless transition that could occur, including being able to offer employment to any of the attorneys who wanted to make the move and keeping rates for its clients largely the same.
“We’re a boutique firm formed for the right purposes and now we’ve found a better forum for the clients,” Voekler said.
Fowler said the KVCF group has signed their offer letters and are expected to be officially on board and working from Williams Mullen’s downtown headquarters at 200 S. 10th St. by no later than Oct. 1.
Williams Mullen also has 15 new associates starting next month, which when combined with the KVCF additions, will bring the firm’s lawyer headcount to around 265.
“This is the biggest we’ve been probably since 2009,” Fowler said. “Most of our growth has been picking up groups like this.”
In addition to its Richmond outpost, Williams Mullen has six other offices, in Northern Virginia; Charlottesville; Virginia Beach; Norfolk; Raleigh, North Carolina; and Columbia, South Carolina. Richmond is its largest, Fowler said.
The firm’s revenue in 2022 was about $163 million and Fowler said he expects KVCF’s book of business to add an additional $6 million to $8 million annually.
Fowler said the firm is keeping busy with a steady flow of litigation work, some of which is catching up on a backlog of cases that were slowed by the pandemic.
Woody Fowler
He said transactional work remains steady, though clients are moving slower due to rising interest rates and other economic uncertainties.
“We’re still reasonably busy on the real estate side and land-use and zoning is busier than you would expect,” Fowler said.
Other new additions similar to the KVCF deal could also be on the horizon, as lawyer poaching is robust at the moment, Fowler said.
“It’s a very aggressive market in that regard,” he said. “We have groups and individual attorneys and other firms that we like and have regular conversations with. You just never know when the interest turns into somebody wanting to make a move.”
As for the deal bringing an end to KVCF’s nearly 20-year run, Voekler said he has mixed emotions.
“It’s the end of an era,” he said.
The firm had already seen other recent changes prior to its pact with Williams Mullen. Last year Rob Kaplan, the K of KVCF who co-founded the firm and had been managing partner, departed for Whiteford Taylor & Preston.
Voekler said the transition is made easier knowing that at a much larger firm KVCF’s partners no longer have to handle many of the administrative tasks that come with running a small shop.
“It’s definitely bittersweet, but I am excited to practice law and not practice on the business,” he said. “The administration of a small firm that burdened some of the partners was better used on our clients.”
Williams Mullen is headquartered at 200 S. 10th St. in downtown Richmond. (BizSense file photo)
One of the giants of the Richmond legal scene has struck a deal to get bigger – but don’t call it a merger.
Williams Mullen is in the process of adding to its ranks nearly all the attorneys from Shockoe Slip law firm KVCF, formerly known as Kaplan Voekler Cunningham & Frank.
The move brings over 10 of KVCF’s 12 lawyers and effectively will lead to the winding down of that firm, which was founded in 2006.
The new additions also will bring Williams Mullen’s attorney count to more than 260, the largest it has been since shortly after the Great Recession, according to president and CEO Woody Fowler.
While the combination has the feel of a merger, both sides say it’s not quite the case.
Mainly due to two different corporate structures – KVCF being a partnership and Williams Mullen a professional corporation – the KVCF group is simply joining the Williams Mullen fold as new hires.
The group of 10 set to start with Williams Mullen over the course of the next month are KVCF namesakes Tom Voekler and Chip Cunningham, along with Mehanna Borostyan, Ed Flanagan, Cindy Heidel, Stephanie Karn, Kathy Lawrence, Melanie Ramsey, John Watson and Rhys James.
“We’ve worked on it for years,” Fowler said of the firm’s courting of KCVF. “We’ve been talking for about five to six years about how it would be a good fit. Earlier this year they said, ‘Maybe it’s time to have a more serious conversation.’”
He said Williams Mullen was interested in KVCF’s specialty in real estate transactional work, employment work for colleges and universities and, particularly, its securities practice that helps businesses and real estate ventures raise capital.
“The biggest piece is their corporate and securities practice,” Fowler said. “We do some of that work, but they do a whole lot of work there. This is a place where adding their expertise and their client base was really an additive to us.”
KVCF will be moving out of its office at 1401 E. Cary St. in Shockoe Slip.
Voekler, who joined what was then known as Kaplan & Frank in 2012, said the move also was driven in part by KVCF’s own real estate needs. The firm’s lease at its headquarters at 1401 E. Cary St. is coming due at year’s end, causing it to think ahead.
“It kind of accelerated because we are supposed to be out of this space in September and were looking at what are the next steps for the firm,” Voekler said.
Tom Voekler
While it has been a target of many other larger firms over the years, Voekler said KVCF liked Williams Mullen for the seamless transition that could occur, including being able to offer employment to any of the attorneys who wanted to make the move and keeping rates for its clients largely the same.
“We’re a boutique firm formed for the right purposes and now we’ve found a better forum for the clients,” Voekler said.
Fowler said the KVCF group has signed their offer letters and are expected to be officially on board and working from Williams Mullen’s downtown headquarters at 200 S. 10th St. by no later than Oct. 1.
Williams Mullen also has 15 new associates starting next month, which when combined with the KVCF additions, will bring the firm’s lawyer headcount to around 265.
“This is the biggest we’ve been probably since 2009,” Fowler said. “Most of our growth has been picking up groups like this.”
In addition to its Richmond outpost, Williams Mullen has six other offices, in Northern Virginia; Charlottesville; Virginia Beach; Norfolk; Raleigh, North Carolina; and Columbia, South Carolina. Richmond is its largest, Fowler said.
The firm’s revenue in 2022 was about $163 million and Fowler said he expects KVCF’s book of business to add an additional $6 million to $8 million annually.
Fowler said the firm is keeping busy with a steady flow of litigation work, some of which is catching up on a backlog of cases that were slowed by the pandemic.
Woody Fowler
He said transactional work remains steady, though clients are moving slower due to rising interest rates and other economic uncertainties.
“We’re still reasonably busy on the real estate side and land-use and zoning is busier than you would expect,” Fowler said.
Other new additions similar to the KVCF deal could also be on the horizon, as lawyer poaching is robust at the moment, Fowler said.
“It’s a very aggressive market in that regard,” he said. “We have groups and individual attorneys and other firms that we like and have regular conversations with. You just never know when the interest turns into somebody wanting to make a move.”
As for the deal bringing an end to KVCF’s nearly 20-year run, Voekler said he has mixed emotions.
“It’s the end of an era,” he said.
The firm had already seen other recent changes prior to its pact with Williams Mullen. Last year Rob Kaplan, the K of KVCF who co-founded the firm and had been managing partner, departed for Whiteford Taylor & Preston.
Voekler said the transition is made easier knowing that at a much larger firm KVCF’s partners no longer have to handle many of the administrative tasks that come with running a small shop.
“It’s definitely bittersweet, but I am excited to practice law and not practice on the business,” he said. “The administration of a small firm that burdened some of the partners was better used on our clients.”
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