Fennemore, an expansion-hungry law firm based in Phoenix, has snatched away some 80 attorneys and legal professionals from Denver law firm Moye White.

The newest employees of Fennemore are expected to join the firm's Denver office by the end of the month, marking a "monumental" expansion to its local presence.

Moye White, which had moved into a new office space in 2023, said at the time that it had 65 attorneys and 125 total employees. The move by Fennemore amounts to an exodus of about two-thirds of the commercial and real estate law firm's Colorado office, and bumps Fennemore's total headcount in Denver to 100.

Fennemore CEO James Goodnow said he expects that Moye White will wind down its operations over the course of the year. While headquartered in Denver, Moye White also has offices in Basalt, Colorado and in Atlanta. The firm could not be reached for comment on whether those locations will remain open.

For a law firm that operates as a professional corporation rather than an LLP (which characterizes the majority of firms), Goodnow said this kind of deal is typical for Fennemore.

In fact, the firm entered the Denver market in 2021 through a similar move that individually hired all members of the Colorado trial and litigation firm Reilly LLP.

In the Moye White deal, however, not all members were offered employment with Fennemore.

"That's no comment on their skills and abilities. They are all talented folks," Goodnow told the Denver Business Journal, an affiliate publication of Phoenix Business Journal. "We certainly take the human side of this very seriously."

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Over the last four years, Goodnow said eight of Fennemore's 10 geographic expansions were handled in a similar fashion, which Goodnow described as "two teams joining forces."

Fennemore is ranked No. 2 along with Quarles & Brady LLP among the largest law firms operating in Phoenix according to Business Journal research, based on total number of Arizona attorneys. The firm has 18 office locations across five states and some 330 attorneys, including the latest move in Denver. Its presence is most heavily focused in Arizona, Colorado, Nevada and California.

Fennemore: 4 expansion moves already in 2024

Indeed, it's been a busy start to the year for Fennemore, which has made its fourth expansion move of 2024 with the Moye White deal.

In its third acquisition of the year, Fennemore announced Feb. 20 that its absorbed Sacramento-based Wagner Kirkman Blaine Klomparens & Youmans LLP, the No. 26 largest firm operating in the California capital.

That deal, which closed March 1, resulted in the combined firm operating in Sacramento as Fennemore WKBKY and added 14 attorneys and 19 legal professionals to the Fennemore payroll.

Fennemore in early January joined forces with Seattle-based boutique litigation firm Savitt Bruce & Willey, and later that month announced another strategic combination with San Diego-based Sullivan Hill. The latter specializes in insurance coverage, construction, commercial bankruptcy, real estate transactions, business and commercial litigation and more, according to a Jan. 30 announcement.

Fennemore first began what would be nearly a year of conversations with Moye White lawyers following the advice of Dan Reilly of Reilly LLP, who vouched for their "top notch reputation," Goodnow said. John Moye, one of the named partners of Moye White who died in 2022, was also Reilly's personal lawyer.

"It was clear almost from that first conversation that we had something special on our hands," Goodnow said.

Goodnow said Denver has been an existing growth target for the firm for some time.

"Right now we're able to serve client needs to an extent, but we really want to have a full suite of offerings with a deeper bench in different practice areas. So that's that's what this play was about," Goodnow said.

Merc Pittinos, formerly the managing partner of Moye White, said in a statement that the group of 80 chose to join Fennemore because of a shared vision to become the "go-to business law firm in the West."

"Together, we capture the best of both worlds — leading business acumen and legal experience — to deliver unmatched service to our clients,” Pittinos said in his statement. He will serve on Fennemore’s management committee.

Fennemore's Denver office is currently located at the Wells Fargo Center and has some space to expand to house new employees, but Goodnow said they have yet to identify what space will work best for its longer-term needs.

Phoenix Business Journal staff contributed to this story.