Milwaukee-based general practice law firm von Briesen & Roper S.C. recently absorbed Milwaukee-based business law firm Weiss Berzowski LLP.
Substantially all of the attorneys of Weiss Berzowski joined von Briesen at the end of November. They focus on representing businesses and executives in corporate law, real estate, estate planning and tax.
“Weiss Berzowski will not continue to exist,” said David Roettgers, managing partner at Weiss Berzowski. “We’ve always admired the von Briesen success, certainly. We were looking at options and frankly, we’ve been getting approached by firms for a long, long time to add to their firms and add in their depth and none of them worked quite as well as the von Briesen relationship will.”
About 14 of Weiss Berzowski’s attorneys and about 15 members of its administrative staff joined von Briesen, Roettgers said. Those who did not come along will retire or continue practicing at other firms. Four attorneys, including founding partner Michael Berzowski, will retire. Partner Sandy Swartzberg is one of two attorneys joining other firms.
“All the lawyers that we’re hiring are going to office here in our von Briesen offices,” said Randall Crocker, president and chief executive officer of von Briesen. “In 2012, we took three floors in the 411 Building, all of nine, 10 and 11. When we did that, we did it with the idea that we would grow and we had room for growth.”
Crocker said von Briesen will remain in the 411 Building in downtown Milwaukee for the foreseeable future, and is always open to hiring good lawyers to grow its team.
von Briesen, founded in 1904, offers a full range of legal services to businesses, institutions and individuals. It has 153 attorneys at offices in Milwaukee, Brookfield, Mequon, Elm Grove, Delafield, Madison, Oshkosh, Appleton and Green Bay. It is the sixth-largest Wisconsin law firm.
Weiss Berzowski was founded in 1953 by Marquette University Law School graduates Harold Frauendorfer and George Lorinczi as the Frauendorfer & Lorinczi law firm. The name has changed over the years as partners have joined and left the firm, and until recently it was called Weiss Berzowski Brady. It had 21 attorneys at offices in Milwaukee and Delafield.
“von Briesen is a dynamic law firm, a platform for legal innovation and a leader in client service,” Roettgers said. “The philosophy of clients first, last and always mirrors our longstanding commitment to the businesses, individuals and industries that we serve. Being part of a statewide, larger law firm will expand the services we offer and allow us to grow our practices with both existing and new clients. The lawyers joining von Briesen are excited about this opportunity and our new colleagues.”
“The addition of these fine lawyers to our core practice areas enhances our proven level of expertise and cements our Wisconsin roots,” Crocker said. “With these lawyers, we will continue our traditions of value-added, cost-effective service focusing on a common sense approach to problem solving and to the practice of law. Today’s complicated business environment requires effective, practical, timely and result-oriented legal representation and advocacy and we are here to deliver this level of service. I have admired the work of these lawyers for many years and I am so pleased that they are a part of von Briesen.”
