Billion-dollar global law firm opens first Florida office

A Philadelphia law firm with offices worldwide and nearly $1 billion in annual revenue has opened an office in Fort Myers — its first office in the Southeast. 

The firm, Faegre Drinker, dates back to 2020 — the result of a merger between a pair of prominent firms: Faegre Baker Daniels and Drinker Biddle & Reath. Faegre Drinker had $955 million in revenue in 2022, according to industry trade publication law.com. That figure was down 3.3% from 2021. 

The Fort Myers office is at 1500 Jackson St. in the city’s downtown First Street District. The Fort Myers office, according to a statement, includes litigators and trial attorneys who represent a broad range of clients with interests in Florida. “This launch is a strategic move for Faegre Drinker,” Faegre Drinker Chair Gina Kastel says in the release. “We already have strong relationships in the area, and now can better serve clients with needs in the rapidly expanding Southeast region.”

The office is led by partner Traci McKee, a leading product liability and medical device litigator and longtime member of the Florida defense bar. McKee is also a deputy practice group leader of Faegre Drinker’s product liability and mass torts practice group, the release states. The firm also plans to recruit and build out a team of attorneys with transactional and litigation backgrounds and has several current partners in other offices who will work from the Fort Myers location on a part-time basis.  

“Officially planting roots in Florida will enhance the services we can provide to our clients with needs here, as well as those that have recently relocated and are looking to grow,” says McKee, who most recently served as past president of both the Florida Defense Lawyers Association and the Southwest Florida Federal Court Bar Association. “Faegre Drinker attorneys have long represented clients in federal and state courts across the state, and we look forward to expanding those relationships within the Florida community.”

Faegre Drinker has over 1,200 experienced attorneys and consulting professionals licensed in nearly every state in the country. It lists 18 domestic offices, including Fort Myers, on its website, plus locations in London and Shanghai.