Partners

In another sign of the growing importance of overseas business to Philadelphia law firms, Dechert L.L.P. said Wednesday that it is adding a large team of lawyers in London, Dubai and the Republic of Georgia to bolster the firm's capital-markets and energy-related practices in the Middle East and Central Asia, among other places. In all, about 25 lawyers are expected to join the firm over the next several weeks, said Dechert CEO Daniel O'Donnell. The leading edge of the group is made up of four partners in London and Dubai, and one in Tbilisi, Georgia.

Blank Rome Comisky & McCauley, a button-down corporate law firm comfortable in the somber halls of power in Harrisburg and Center City, is adding a new service to its firm: high-profile divorce. The firm is merging with Tenzer Greenblatt in New York, an 80-lawyer firm with a surprisingly glamorous cast of divorce clients. They include Woody Allen, Howard Stern, Donald Trump and Joan Lunden. Even Macaulay Culkin, the former child actor, sought the firm's services when he wanted to divorce his family.

A two-year-old law firm started by John M. Elliott, one of the city's most visible lawyers, has broken up. Robert J. Bray Jr., co-chairman of Elliott & Bray, filed suit in Montgomery County Common Pleas Court last month asking that the firm he set up with Elliott in 1990 be "wound up and dissolved" and that a receiver be appointed for its assets. Bray's suit does not specify any causes for the breakup. In an interview yesterday, Bray said the breakup was a private business matter that he hoped to "resolve amicably.

Two Center City corporate accounting offices that admired each other from across the street are moving in together. BDO USA L.L.P. , a Chicago-based corporate accounting and business consulting firm, says it is acquiring Philadelphia accountants Asher & Co. Ltd. and taking on the firm's 10 partners and more than 100 staffers. The move joins Asher, based at 1801 Market, to BDO's 60-employee branch at 1800 Market. "We want to all be under one roof," but haven't yet worked out which home will house the pair, Asher managing director Joseph Beach told me. He'll remain, under BDO; he said no one will lose a job in the deal.

Citing "mind-boggling . . . intolerance" at his law firm, the Boston lawyer who sued the city to end race-based admissions at a prestigious public school now says he was ousted from the firm last week by partners intent on distancing themselves from the suit. Amid a chorus of criticism that he would reopen racial wounds and damage affirmative action, Michael C. McLaughlin last month filed a federal lawsuit contending that his 12-year-old daughter, Julia, was denied admission to Boston Latin High School because of a policy that reserved 35 percent of seats for black or Hispanic students.

SANTIAGO, Chile - Striking a humble chord, President Obama said Monday that the United States has sometimes taken Latin America "for granted," but he promised a new relationship that did not consign the region to the status of "junior partner. " In a speech in Chile, Obama laid out a vision for the relationship that was rooted in a shared belief in democracy, stronger cultural ties, and expanded trade. "I believe that in the Americas today, there are no senior partners and there are no junior partners, there are only equal partners," Obama said at La Moneda Cultural Center, a modern art museum near the presidential palace.

Last year, the guys at Shoefitr noted a surge in use of their online shoe-fitting application on the Monday after Thanksgiving, otherwise known as Cyber Monday for its burst of Internet shopping. They are not retailers, but the Pittsburgh start-up's team wants to ease the pain of shoe shopping with an application designed to help compare the fit of styles across various brands. And apparently, shoppers who discovered the Shoefitr tool on retailers' websites were quick to see the possibilities.

Acclaris Inc., a Tampa, Fla., health-care financial-technology and integrated-services company, said Berwyn resident Bob Lopes had been appointed chief executive officer. Most recently, Lopes was executive vice president and practice director for human capital at Aon, a reinsurance and consulting firm. Advanced Call Center Technologies L.L.C. - a Berwyn provider of such services as contact centers, back-office support, and customer-relationship management - said Marc Keller had joined the company as chief compliance officer.

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.

In 1931, in the midst of the Great Depression, a young Philadelphian named Albert M. Cohen decided to strike out on his own, leaving what was then one of the city's largest law firms - which had all of 25 lawyers. He rented a small corner suite in the PSFS Building, Center City's gleaming new landmark. By 1956, when Albert died, his firm had six lawyers, including Albert's younger brother Sylvan, who had gone into law at his brother's urging. Under Sylvan Cohen's leadership, Cohen & Cohen expanded, and the growth continued after he stepped aside; by 1993, the firm had 109 lawyers and took up five-plus floors in the PSFS Building.