Freeman Mathis Adds Pittsburgh to Its Expanding Footprint
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Photo by ESB Professional/shutterstock
After launching in Boston this month, Atlanta-based Freeman Mathis & Gary is now expanding in Pennsylvania, opening a small Pittsburgh office and adding two lawyers to its Philadelphia branch.
The 150-lawyer firm has almost tripled in size since its first foray outside of Atlanta in 2013, when it acquired San Francisco litigation boutique Strazulo Fitzgerald.
Freeman Mathis announced Friday it is adding Bill Catto and Sean Riley as partners from national business litigation firm Litchfield Cavo. Riley is opening a Pittsburgh outpost for Freeman Mathis, while Catto has become the co-leader of the firm's Philadelphia office, with resident partner Josh Ferguson.
Freeman Mathis' Philadelphia office now has seven lawyers, including associate Courtney Mazzio, recently hired from Horn Williamson.
“Bill Catto and Sean Riley are remarkably good lawyers with a range of trial and litigation experience that is hard to find,” said Freeman Mathis’ managing partner Ben Mathis. “They have been the go-to litigation team for significant cases for many years. They both have a very strong work ethic and the credibility of being successful trial lawyers.”
Catto is heading Freeman Mathis’ Pennsylvania practices in professional and management liability defense and commercial litigation. Riley has a statewide defense litigation practice, representing businesses and individuals in business, employment, professional liability and products liability disputes.
Mathis emphasized that the firm's new partners actually try cases. “While most cases end through dispositive motion or settlement, Bill and Sean and the team we have built will use their courtroom skills to achieve advantageous resolutions, and our clients can have great confidence we will take the case to successful verdict if needed,” he said. “No one is bluffing when they say they will try the case and can win it if that is what it takes.”
The firm's announcement of its Pennsylvania expansion follows its raid of 18 lawyers from LeClairRyan earlier this month to start a Boston office.
With the additions in Boston and Pennsylvania, Freeman Mathis has established a three-pronged geographic footprint, with metro-Atlanta, Savannah and Tampa in the Southeast; another seven offices in California; and a Northeastern leg in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Boston.
