Bartko LLP merges with New York boutique Pavia & Harcourt

California law firm Bartko LLP merged Monday with New York boutique Pavia & Harcourt, forming a new entity, Bartko Pavia.

The partners said in an interview that they had been referring business to one another for years and decided a year ago that they might as well tie-up. Giovanni E. Spinelli, managing partner of Pavia, proposed the merger a year ago.

"Within 48 hours, An and I got on plane and went to the New York, and the rest is history," said Patrick M. Ryan, who co-manages Bartko with An Nguyen Ruda.

Patrick M. Ryan

Bartko, which has 43 lawyers in Los Angeles and San Francisco, has a significant antitrust and IP litigation practice, mostly on the plaintiff side. The firm is handling litigation that claims Blue Cross and Blue Shield plans and their association conspired to restrain competition, allocate markets, boycott providers, and fix prices. The firm is representing several hospital systems that opted out of a $2.8 billion nationwide provider class action settlement recently approved by an MDL court in Alabama. Those cases were filed last week and on Monday in Alameda County Superior Court.

Giovanni E. Spinelli

Bartko also handles labor and employment transactions and litigation, and some real estate transactions. The firm has secured significant trial wins, including a record $845 million jury verdict in a 2019 trade secret case for ASML.

Pavia & Harcourt has 11 attorneys in one office, in Manhattan. The firm specializes in corporate transactions, particularly inbound work from Europe. The firm often acts as a general counsel for medium and large European companies on corporate matters, intellectual property and immigration. Just one partner and one associate are litigators.

Spinelli, whose practice is heavily focused on international mergers, acquisitions and finance in the fashion industry, said a lot of his clients needed help in California with litigation and risk management related to disability claims, unfair competition and pricing, and labor and employment.

"Across the board, anything that can affect retail businesses," he said.

For many years, Spinelli partnered with Bartko on that work. But he said that while he had a good referral relationship with the California law firm, "Going outside the firm is always somewhat of an issue."

"That extra leap gives the client pause," he said.

Spinelli said he believes the merger will expand Pavia's business.

"Up until now, Pavia has served inbound work from mainly France, Italy and Spain. That was our niche. Now, with this California addition, we are in a position to leverage other areas of Europe, plus Latin America and Asia," he said.

Nguyen Ruda, a labor and employment specialist, said the clients have been excited to learn the firms "would be bicoastal."

She said the partners of both firms have spent the year getting to know one another, and believe this marriage is a great fit.

"We've always wanted to grow with likeminded individuals," Nguyen Ruda said.

Ryan, who won the $845 million judgment for ASML, the world's leading supplier of semiconductor manufacturing equipment, agreed.

"That's in a nutshell why we did it," he said, saying they liked the idea of organically growing with people they already knew.

The partners said the speed with which they completed the merger - from proposal to finalization in one year - was indicative of the way they work as attorneys.

"We're very flexible, nimble and decisive," Ryan said.

Nguyen Ruda said the firms are so excited about the merger and its possibilities they are considering another "targeted expansion" in Los Angeles.

Asked for details, she responded coyly.

"I'll let you know. It's going to be spectacular," she said.