"Entering the Boston market has long been a strategic goal of our firm, and this group of attorneys fills the bill perfectly, say Lee I. Miller and Francis B. Burch, Jr., co-chairs of Piper Rudnick, in a joint statement. "Given the choices these particular lawyers had to join any one of several major law firms, we feel fortunate that they selected our firm as offering the best opportunity for mutual growth."

Key real estate client relationships the Boston group brings to Piper Rudnick include projects and companies such as the Fan Pier Development, Congress Group, Spaulding & Slye, AEW Capital Management, Lyme Properties, Providence Place Mall, the North Point Project in Cambridge, Suffolk Downs, Fidelity, Lend Lease, Massachusetts Housing Investment Corporation, FPL Energy, and Mirant.

Piper Rudnick says that the creation of this office constitutes the first in a series of growth moves to fulfill the firm's long-term strategy for Boston. Over the next few years, the Boston partners and the firm plan to add additional capabilities to its practice by recruiting attorneys in other areas, such as mutual funds, venture capital, biosciences, intellectual property, and emerging companies.

In addition to this office, Piper Rudnick has offices in Chicago, Baltimore, New York, Philadelphia, Dallas, Tampa, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Washington, DC, Edison, NJ and Reston, VA. The firm comprises of 925 attorneys.