Partners

The owners of the Divine Lorraine Hotel have entered into an agreement with a local developer who would buy and renovate the derelict landmark on North Broad Street, a member of the ownership group said Friday. Michael Treacy Jr., one of the partners that owns the building, would not identify the company, but said the Philadelphia developer had an option to take over the abandoned hotel and an adjacent three-acre vacant lot. The potential buyer is examining the specifics of a deal, he said.

Adz Kozlowski of Glenhardie Country Club and Jim Smith of Abington Country Club combined for a 4-under-par 81 to win the golf tournament of the Lynx Winter Tour in a field of 80 yesterday at Philmont Country Club. The format was better-ball-of-partners scores on 13 holes and individual scores of the partners added together on the five par-3 holes. This made par for the South Course 85.

More partners have left the troubled Dilworth, Paxson, Kalish & Kauffman law firm in Philadelphia and have joined other former Dilworth Paxson colleagues at Blank, Rome, Comisky & McCauley. Three former Dilworth Paxson partners from the litigation department and the partner who headed the environmental practice are joining Blank Rome, bringing to seven the number of Dilworth Paxson lawyers - six of them partners - who have joined Blank Rome recently. Other firms have been picking up Dilworth Paxson partners as well.

Philadelphia accounting firm Stockton Bates L.L.P. has merged with a Milwaukee rival, Clifton Gunderson L.L.P., Clifton Gunderson said. As part of the deal, effective Tuesday, Stockton Bates partners John Gallagher, Bruce Lynch and James Smith became Clifton Gunderson partners. In addition, 29 Stockton Bates professionals joined Clifton Gunderson as members of its mid-Atlantic practice. Stockton Bates had offices in Philadelphia, Haddonfield and Lancaster. Clifton Gunderson employs 1,900 and is the 14th-largest U.S. accounting firm, according to its website.

City Hall blossomed with Philadelphia pride Wednesday as elementary school students and civic leaders celebrated the 118th birthday of the city's flag - a unifying symbol that Mayor Nutter acknowledged "sometimes goes unnoticed in our daily lives. " Brenda Exon, cofounder of the nonprofit advocacy group Partners for Civic Pride, gave a history lesson on the Philadelphia flag, which depicts the city seal on a gold-and-sky-blue background. She said her group was trying to establish March 27, Philadelphia Civic Flag Day, "as an important day on the Philadelphia calendar.

The venerable Philadelphia law firm of Pepper, Hamilton & Scheetz has decided to remain one partnership, rather than split into two. Leaders of the firm said yesterday that an effort by former chairman John G. Harkins Jr. to persuade a group of Pepper Hamilton lawyers to join him in a "sister" partnership has failed, and negotiations with Harkins have ended. Harkins, 62, long regarded as one of the top civil lawyers in Philadelphia, resigned last Thursday as chairman and a member of the executive committee of Pepper Hamilton.

Four young Philadelphians are cooking up a worker-owned cooperative restaurant - they believe it's the city's first - that's scheduled to open next week. This isn't the management structure of your average corner pizza parlor. The four partners in Pizzazz, on 10th Street near Spruce, are calling the cooperative "an experiment in workplace management and productivity" because each has posted a $15,000 stake to get the business going, each will have a share of the workload, and each will have one vote on operating decisions.

The growth-minded Center City law firm of Clark, Ladner, Fortenbaugh & Young added seven more lawyers yesterday. All are from the firm of Margolis, Edelstein & Scherlis and concentrate in insurance regulatory matters and insurance mergers and acquisitions. "This gives us another niche," said managing partner Vahan H. Gureghian. Carl Anthony Maio, James B. Dougherty Jr. and H. Marc Tepper will join Clark Ladner as partners. The other four lawyers are associates. Clark Ladner has been on a campaign to hire lawyers from other firms - so- called "laterals" - who bring clients and new sources of business with them, Gureghian said.

Five Philadelphia law firms made the 1990 "American Law 100" list compiled by American Lawyer Magazine. The list ranks firms in terms of gross income, profits per partner and revenue per lawyer. It also "grades" the top firms on how generous they are in terms of public service. The Philadelphia firms listed, in order of gross revenues, are Morgan, Lewis & Bockius; Dechert Price & Rhoads; Pepper, Hamilton & Scheetz; Wolf, Block, Schorr and Solis-Cohen; and Schnader, Harrison, Segal & Lewis.

The New Jersey Section PGA defeated the Philadelphia PGA, 10-8, yesterday in the Matrix Cup competition at Commonwealth National Golf Club in Horsham. The team of 12 New Jersey pros produced wins in seven of 12 singles matches, with another halved to decide the match after Philadelphia won three of six four-ball (better ball of partners) matches with one halved.