|
Foley & Mansfield And Igbanugo Partners Establish
Transformational Strategic Alliance
Alliance struck between minority-owned firm and majority owned firm is
designed to help minority firm develop expertise
in new practice areas and ensure its growth.
Minneapolis, MN - January 29, 2010 - Foley & Mansfield, PLLP,
a national law firm headquartered in
Minneapolis, Minnesota, and Igbanugo Partners Int'l Law Firm,
PLLC, a minority-owned law firm also
based in Minneapolis, have entered into a "Transformational
Strategic Alliance Agreement." The purpose of this
Strategic Alliance is to provide diverse,
multi-cultural legal representation to companies in
various areas of law, including commercial
litigation, general liability, and product liability
actions. This unique new type of Strategic
Alliance is one of only a few majority-minority law firm
alliances in the nation to date. The
ultimate goal of the Strategic Alliance is to provide a broad
range of Fortune 500 corporations with the highest quality of service from
well-groomed alliance lawyers of diverse
backgrounds. Large corporations who seek out
minority-owned law firms to represent them, in
transactional work and in litigation, now have the
ability to retain Igbanugo Partners, which will
be assisted on the matters by attorneys at Foley &
Mansfield who already have expertise in that
specific area of law. This Strategic Alliance "dual
representation" provides a new avenue for
Foley & Mansfield to access a larger pool of corporate clients
through Igbanugo Partners' contacts
and provides Igbanugo Partners the ability to develop expertise
in new areas of the law. The Strategic
Alliance also provides Igbanugo Partners with the ability to
transition its transactional work to
the Strategic Alliance should its cases turn litigious, with the
backing of Foley & Mansfield's highly
experienced litigation and trial teams.
Founding principal of Igbanugo Partners, Herbert A.
Igbanugo, embraces the Strategic Alliance
because, “Ethnic minorities in the legal profession have
traditionally contemplated a 'Hobson's
choice:' join a majority law firm and risk becoming marginalized
or go the minority law firm career path and risk exclusion from premium career opportunities
in the legal field and the chance to
attract or participate in substantial and complex legal
matters.” Mr. Igbanugo adds, “We are
hopeful that our unique Strategic Alliance will ameliorate this
plight for all of our lawyers of
color; we certainly count on it.”
Founding partners
Kyle Mansfield and
Stephen Foley,
both well respected and known in the
Twin Cities legal community, as well as nationwide, as lawyers'
lawyers, strong negotiators and trial
attorneys, are optimistic to move their firm towards more
diverse, corporate legal matters. Mr.
Mansfield states, “Both firms are really excited about the
future in light of this new and
promising Strategic Alliance relationship, emphasizing that our
commitment to diversity is not just
lip service; that's not what we are doing here. America has
truly become a multi-cultural society
and we are simply moving in the right direction.” As Mr. Foley
observed: “Our association
contemplates a true union of two independent firms, closely
connected in proximity and mindset and
working together hand-in-hand in appropriate client matters and
equally enjoying all the benefits of
our strategic association predicated above all, on mutual
respect.”
Igbanugo Partners joins the alliance with an eight-attorney firm
and is associated with one special
counsel and five strategic alliance counsels located in D.C. and
Sub-Saharan Africa. The firm is
certified as a minority-owned business by the Midwest Minority
Supplier Development Council and
specializes in U.S. Immigration/Nationality Laws and
International Trade Law with a narrow
focus on Sub-Saharan Africa. Mr. Igbanugo began his legal career
in 1988. In 2000, he co-founded and
was a named partner in a law firm that had offices in
Minneapolis, Washington, D.C., and
Troy, Michigan and that grew to be one of the largest
black-owned law firms in the United
States. In 2006, Mr. Igbanugo started his current firm Igbanugo
Partners. For more information, visit
www.igbanugolaw.com.
Foley & Mansfield is a national majority-owned law firm with
approximately 140 attorneys from
coast-to-coast. Founded in 1980, the firm's areas of expertise
and practice include: commercial and
product liability litigation, employment law, and other areas of
law. In addition to its headquarters
in Minneapolis,
the firm has offices in
Chicago,
Detroit,
Los Angeles,
Miami,
New
York, St.
Louis, Seattle
and San Francisco.
|