Duane Morris LLP is a law firm headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1904 as Duane, Morris, Heckscher & Roberts, the firm has offices in the United States, London, Singapore, Vietnam, Oman, Myanmar, Shanghai and Taiwan. In addition to legal services, Duane Morris has independent affiliates employing approximately 100 professionals engaged in other disciplines.
Ranking and recognition
and awarded Duane Morris top-tier national rankings in bankruptcy and creditor debtor rights/insolvency and reorganization law, construction law and litigation, employee benefits law, health care law, immigration, insurance, patent law and venture capital law. Overall, 28 Duane Morris practice groups were nationally ranked. Duane Morris was also named Law Firm of the Year for Construction Law. Chambers USA 2017 edition ranked Duane Morris among national leaders in Construction, Healthcare, Insurance, and Immigration. Attorneys received 70 citations for excellence, and 21 practices were cited for excellence. In 2014, the Am Law 100 ranked Duane Morris as the 71st largest law firm in the U.S. based on gross revenue. In 2007, 2012, 2013, 2014 Duane Morris was named one of the Working Mother and Flex-Time Lawyers "50 Best Law Firms for Women," and was cited for its Women's Initiative Program. Duane Morris was featured in the December/January issue of the magazine, and on workingmother.com and flextime lawyers.com. In 2007, Duane Morris was named one of the 20 best companies for working women by Philadelphia and one of the top 50 law firms for women by Working Mother magazine and Flex-Time Lawyers LLC, a national consulting firm focused on the retention and advancement of women.
Growth
Under the ten-year leadership of Chairman Sheldon Bonovitz from early 1998 to early 2008, Duane Morris grew from a little more than 200 lawyers in 1998 to more than 650 by January 2008. Revenues increased over that period from $70 million to $375 million for 2007. Bonovitz stepped down at the beginning of January 2008, replaced by former Vice Chairman John J. Soroko. Harvard Business School completed a case study of the firm's growth entitled "Duane Morris: Balancing Growth and Culture at a Law Firm," which was presented in curriculum during the 2006-2007 academic year. In 2013, Duane Morris opened an office in Myanmar. Also in 2013, Duane Morris opened an office in Oman., the firm had more than 750 attorneys across 27 offices. In January 2020, Duane Morris LLP announced that they have reached a merger agreement with Satterlee Stephens. The combination expands Duane Morris' presence in New York City.
Notable cases and deals
Heineken's $4.6B bid for Asia Pacific Breweries: In November 2012, Heineken N.V. closed its S$5.6 billion takeover bid for Asia Pacific Breweries Ltd., acquiring an additional 40-percent stake in the joint venture from its partner Fraser & Neave Ltd, a Singapore-based conglomerate. Duane Morris & Selvam, a joint law venture with Duane Morris, acted for Heineken in the transaction, which consolidated a controlling interest in APBL for the Amsterdam-based brewer of approximately 95 percent. The transaction marked one of the largest of its kind in Singapore in 2012. The deal was named Singapore M&A Deal of the Year by the ALB SE Asia Law Awards 2013.
Lehigh Gas Partners IPO: Duane Morris completed a series of transactions in November 2012 that concluded with the $138 million initial public offering of wholesale motor fuel distributor Lehigh Gas Partners LP.
Markman v. Westview Instruments, Inc.: Duane Morris represented the plaintiff Markman in a patent infringement lawsuit. After winning a jury verdict, Markman lost the case in a subsequent directed verdict for the defendant Westview due to questions of patent claims construction. The decision to reverse the jury verdict was affirmed by the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit and later in 1996 the U.S. Supreme Court. The result of this case is that so-called Markman hearings are now routinely conducted in patent infringement lawsuits so that a judge will rule on the legal meaning of patent claims before the lawsuit is argued before a jury.
Mark Singel, Lieutenant Governor of Pennsylvania from 1987 to 1995. Joined the firm in 2000 after leaving public service and left to start his own firm in 2005.
