Day Pitney LLP is an American law firm with more than 300 attorneys spread across thirteen offices in six states and the District of Columbia.
History
Predecessors
Pitney & Hardin was founded in Newark, New Jersey in 1902, by attorneys John R. Hardin and John Oliver Halstead Pitney, the latter being the brother of Supreme Court justice Mahlon Pitney.[1]William J. Brennan Jr., who would later become a Supreme Court justice himself, was hired by the firm, right out of Harvard Law School, in 1931. According to Kim Isaac Eisler, in The Last Liberal: Justice William J. Brennan, Jr. and the Decisions That Transformed America, the firm's clients, particularly Phelps Dodge, Western Electric and General Electric, were "some of the most notoriously antilabor corporations in the state of New Jersey."[1] Eisler asserted the anti-labor clients he worked for while at Pitney Hardin Ward & Brennan cemented the liberal outlook he would later bring to his Supreme Court opinions. In 1999, after several unsuccessful ventures into the New York market, Pitney Hardin LLP "finally established a beachhead in New York" by taking over the intellectual property firm of Kane, Dalsimer, Sullivan and Levy, absorbing eight attorneys and moving into the acquired firm's office space.[2]
Day & Berry was founded in Hartford, Connecticut in 1919, by attorneys Edward M. Day, Joseph F. Berry, and Lawrence A. Howard.[3][4] In 1922, the firm relocated its offices "to be close to one of its largest clients, Connecticut Bank and Trust" (CBT),[3] and in 1923, the firm combined with a firm headed by Harry W. Reynolds to form Day, Berry & Reynolds.[5] By the 1930s, the firm operated under the name, Day, Berry & Howard. The firm relocated to Constitution Plaza in 1963, again to stay close to CBT.[3] By 1977, Day, Berry & Howard was one of the largest in Connecticut, and established an office in Stamford, Connecticut.[6] By 1984, the firm had 120 attorneys and an equal number of staff, at which point it moved its headquarters to City Place I.[3]
Merger and post-merger history
In October 2006, Pitney Hardin LLP and Day, Berry & Howard LLP announced that they were merging to form Day Pitney LLP. The law blog Above the Law, reviewing the announced merger in advance of its execution, questioned whether the move would be enough to give the new firm a foothold in the highly competitive New York legal market.[7] The merger was carried out in January 2007.[8][9]
In 2015 the firm was one of two sued for allegedly overbilling a client in a major Connecticut medical malpractice suit.[10] In 2016 and 2019, the firm expanded in the Florida market by merging with smaller boutique firms, Chapin, Ballerano and Cheslack,[11] and Richman Greer,[12] respectively.
In 2020 the firm employed 268 attorneys in 13 offices.[13]
Vanessa Lynne Bryant: Former associate at Day, Berry, & Howard, is a United States District Judge for the District of Connecticut.[17]
Sam Caligiuri: Former Connecticut State Senator (R-16th dist.), is a former partner in Day Pitney's Hartford office. Caligiuri also served on the Board of Aldermen of Waterbury, Connecticut, and ran for the United States Congress in 2010.[18]
^ ab
Kim Isaac Eisler (2003). The Last Liberal: Justice William J. Brennan, Jr. and the Decisions That Transformed America. Beard Books. pp. 32–35, 38, 52–53. ISBN9781587982712. Retrieved October 18, 2020. It is often reported that Pitney, Hardin & Ward, now located in Morristown, New Jersey, was founded by one Supreme Court justice and produced another. But it is not true. Mahlon Pitney had little to do with the firm. It was Mahlon's brother, John, who built up the law firm that later became known as Pitney, Hardin Ward & Brennan.
^Tim O'Reiley, "Pitney, Hardin law firm takes on the Big Apple", Morristown Daily Record (November 23, 1999), p. 41.
^ abcdCharles McCollum, "Law Firm Opens New Offices", Hartford Courant (February 21, 1984), p. B1, B4.
^"Wooden Sworn in as Connecticut's 83rd State Treasurer"(PDF). Connecticut Office of the Treasurer (Press release). January 9, 2019. Retrieved November 4, 2020. Text of press release shows incorrect date of January 9, 2018. Document properties modification date corresponds to actual swearing-in date of January 9, 2019.