Blank Rome and Healy & Baillie to Join Forces

Blank Rome LLP and Healy & Baillie, LLP will combine their practices as of October 1, 2006. Healy & Baillie is ranked as one of the leading maritime law firms in the United States with a notable international practice and office in Hong Kong. The combined firm will house the nation’s largest Maritime practice.

“We are thrilled to welcome Healy & Baillie to the Blank Rome family. Their depth of experience in international, maritime and admiralty law is unmatched and will be an excellent complement to our existing practice,” said Carl M. Buchholz, Managing Partner and Chief Executive Officer of Blank Rome. “This combination clearly strengthens our national platform and international presence by positioning Blank Rome in Hong Kong, which is well aligned with our overall strategic growth strategy.” Founded in 1948, Healy & Baillie is a leading provider of legal services to the maritime industry in New York, Hong Kong, New Jersey, and Connecticut. The Firm is consistently listed as one of the leading maritime law firms in the United States by Chambers Global and US editions of “Leading Lawyers.”

“Blank Rome is a forward-thinking and results-driven firm with a growing national and international platform, which made it the perfect choice for us,” said John D. Kimball, Chairman of Healy & Baillie, LLP and 2006 recipient of the Chambers Award for Excellence as the leading lawyer in shipping litigation in the United States. “We are confident that our combination will provide substantial benefits for our clients. The strengths of Healy & Baillie’s admiralty expertise and international footprint mesh ideally with the regulatory, legislative and environmental practices of Blank Rome. This is a combination in which the whole will be far greater than the sum of the two parts.”

This combination follows Blank Rome’s recently announced strategic alliance with Brussels-based public affairs and public relations agency Interel. This partnership was designed to link Blank Rome and Interel core competencies to provide a seamless US-EU legal, public affairs, government relations, and strategic communications service offering to companies and organizations who are increasingly impacted by decisions taken on both sides of the Atlantic.