MGLAW merging into regional firm

The business and insolvency lawyers at MGLAW are joining forces with the Nashville office of Frost Brown Todd in a merger that boosts the latter's Nashville profile and gives Bob Mendes and his team a regional platform.

The merger, which will become effective June 1, unites MGLAW's seven-lawyer team and staff with the 16 area attorneys at Frost Brown Todd, who will in two weeks move from the Fifth Third Center to their new and larger space in the Pinnacle [2] at Symphony Place. For Frost Brown Todd, which last year lost a number of attorneys [3] — including member-in-charge John Wingo — to competitors, the move is another statement that it's serious about setting up a local operation that can consistently compete with larger firms.

Mendes said teaming up with Frost Brown Todd will give his small team better resources in other areas of the law while providing more opportunities in neighboring states. Frost Brown Todd has about 450 attorneys on staff and also runs three offices in both Ohio and Kentucky as well as locations in Indianapolis and Charleston, W.Va.

"We've been talking about this for a couple of months," Mendes said. "We think this will be good for both groups."

Mekesha Montgomery, who was named local member-in-charge for Frost Brown Todd last summer, lauded MGLAW's "great entrepreneurial spirit" and said her firm will continue to look for opportunities to build its Middle Tennessee roster to its stated goal of 30.

"They have an incredible reputation," Montgomery told NashvillePost.com of Mendes and his team. "Even if this hadn't been an area where we wanted to grow, they are the types of attorneys we want to be teaming up with."