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New Year, Same Story: Another Big Law Firm Opening First Miami Office

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Brickell has become the preferred neighborhood for law firms expanding into Miami.

Another of the 100 largest U.S. law firms is following its peers to Miami.

Boston-based law firm Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo is opening a new office in Miami, it announced Tuesday. The outpost will be its first in South Florida and seventh in the U.S.

The firm, with specialties in energy and sustainability, private equity, life sciences, technology, financial services and healthcare, plans to relocate top-level executives and also looks to hire local attorneys.

It has hired former Milbank partner Jim Ball, who started at the firm on Tuesday in its New York office, to spearhead operations in Miami. Ball will take over leadership upon being admitted to the Florida Bar and after the office opens, which is expected in Q3, Reuters reports.

A Mintz spokesperson didn't respond to Bisnow's request for comment. It is unclear where Mintz plans to locate its new office or how big it will be.

Ball, whose track record includes two decades at Milbank as a capital markets attorney, has connections to the Miami market. His former clients include top financial firms like Goldman Sachs, Oppenheimer, Morgan Stanley, HSBC, Scotiabank Bank of America, UBS Group and J.P. Morgan.

“We’ve had our eye on the Miami market for a while,” Mintz Managing Member Bob Bodian said in a statement. “Our presence in Miami will enhance our ability to serve many valued clients and forge new relationships as we establish a strong presence in this important and growing market.”

Mintz is just the latest in a line of law firms to take their talents near South Beach. Last year, Kirkland & Ellis, Sidley Austin, Winston & Strawn and Baker McKenzie all signed leases at the under-construction 830 Brickell office tower, while King & Spalding opened its first Miami office last January in the Southeast Financial Center.