Law firm merger to create 124-attorney firm

Real Estate Weekly, Jan 15, 2003

Thomas J. Douglas, Jr., managing partner at Cullen and Dykman LLP, and Edward F. Gentner, Jr., senior partner at Bleakley Platt Remsen Millham & Curran LLP, jointly announced that their two firms have merged, effective Jan. 1. The combined firm will be known as Cullen and Dykman Bleakley Platt LLP.

The combined firm will have 124 attorneys with offices in Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens, as well as Garden City, Long Island, Newark, New Jersey and Washington, D.C. The merger will leave both firms' personnel and staff intact.

In announcing the merger, Douglas said, "The merger will benefit both firms. For Cullen and Dykman, it will give us a much-needed presence in Manhattan and for Bleakley Platt, it will allow them to benefit from the resources of a larger organization. We are delighted to have the opportunity to work side-by-side with such a high caliber firm."

Gentner reinforced Douglas' comments, "It's a great opportunity for us. Our Manhattan presence is a perfect extension for Cullen and Dykman and their network throughout the metropolitan area and expanded resources will certainly benefit our clients.

With the talented and dedicated people in both firms, this merger will succeed. It's a perfect match."

One of the five oldest law firms in New York State, Cullen and Dykman LLP has been serving the legal needs of its clients since 1850. Cullen and Dykman LLP has Ill attorneys and offices in Brooklyn, Garden City, Washington, D.C. and Newark.

Bleakley Platt Remsen Millham & Curran LLP is headquartered at 44 Wall Street in Manhattan. The 13-attorney firm has five partners and eight associates. Tracing its own roots back more than a century, Bleakley Platt Remsen Millham & Curran LLP is the product of two comerstone Manhattan firms, Remsen, Millham & Curran, founded in 1906, and Bleakley Platt Schmidt & Fritz, P.C., founded in 1888.

The combined firm will continue to provide a widerange of comprehensive legal services, including banking, corporate, energy, real estate, commercial lending, secured lending, litigation, labor, municipal and estates and trusts.

The merged firm's clients include individuals, large and small businesses, financial and educational institutions, insurance companies, energy and telecommunications companies, municipalities and not-for-profits.

A spokesperson for the two firms summarized the merger, "Two-great legal traditions-have-united on Wall Street and the ultimate winners are the clients of the combined firm. They will enjoy immediate benefits in increased staff and skills." A significant space expansion is already underway at the Wall Street and Garden City offices. The combined firm is looking forward to providing expanded services in all of its practice areas.

It should be noted that Bleakley Platt Remsen Millham & Curran LLP is a separate and distinct firm from White Plains based Bleakley Platt & Schmidt, LLP which is not involved in the merger. Although the two Bleakley firms have the same origins, they amicably separated in 1978. Bleakley Platt & Schmidt, LLP shall continue to maintain offices in White Plains, NY and Greenwich, Conn.