Pepper Hamilton moves to larger Boston office

The Boston office of the law firm Pepper Hamilton LLP has just relocated to new digs at 125 High St. - space that is quadruple the size of its previous office at 101 Federal St.

With roots in Philadelphia, 500 lawyers, and offices nationwide, Pepper Hamilton sees Boston as a growth area; the 24,600 square feet of Boston office space can accommodate 35 attorneys, up from the current head count of 11, Boston managing partner Steven R. London said.

Pepper Hamilton, which specializes in such areas as corporate, securities, and tax law as well as intellectual property and patent litigation, decided to open a Boston office in late 2006, partly because some of its clients are private equity firms doing business here.

Citing confidentiality reasons, London declined to identify the clients.

While a slowing economy has put a crimp in the activity of many private equity firms, London sees the plenty of opportunities for an "interdisciplinary" legal team such as his that can help clients do everything from down-sizing to restructuring and recapitalizing.

With those opportunities in mind, he said he plans to hire five to seven additional attorneys in the firm's Boston office this year.

Meanwhile, he's settling into Pepper Hamiltion's new Boston address.

"We're still in boxes," London said.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)