Two Foley Hoag life sciences partners in Boston have decamped for Hogan Lovells, the latest instance of outside firms poaching from local competitors in the city.
Brian Carey, a longtime Foley Hoag partner and co-chair of its life sciences coverage and payment group, and Erik Schulwolf have jumped to Hogan Lovells, the firm said Wednesday. In an interview, Carey said he and Hogan Lovells attorneys have co-counseled med-tech developers and trade groups over the past 20 years.
“Hogan would represent a company on A, B, and C, and I would do D, E, and F. We’ve become so specialized in each area we’re in that it made sense to collaborate at the same firm,” Carey said.
“We’ve been looking for the right fit to expand our health practice into the key Boston market,” Ron Wisor, who leads Hogan Lovells’ health practice, said in a statement. “Brian and Erik are excellent additions to our team.”
The hires come halfway through a year marked by aggressive lateral hiring of Boston’s homegrown firms by firms originating outside of the city. Paul Hastings, Blank Rome, and Hogan Lovells have sought to expand in the city’s tight-knit legal community by recruiting local partners focused on life sciences transactions.
Boston’s Burns & Levinson in May sustained a 25-lawyer loss to new entrant Blank Rome, followed by a 17-lawyer loss to ArentFox Schiff the following month. The departures left Burns & Levinson with the prospect of merging with a larger firm to stabilize.
“It’s been a very vibrant market so far in 2024,” said Robert Zinn, a Boston recruiter with Major Lindsey & Africa. “Life sciences transactions continues to be the No. 1 ask, not just for firms coming to town but also for longstanding existing firms.”
Competitive lateral hiring from new entrants like Blank Rome and Paul Hastings has driven up the price tag for the city’s highest paid law firm partners to the $5-$10 million range, Zinn said. “It’s becoming more and more competitive and more and more difficult” for locally born firms, he added.
Hogan Lovells’ newly hired life sciences pair guide biotech companies and diagnostic labs through Medicare reimbursement and compliance with regulatory bodies, according to Hogan Lovells’ announcement. Carey has advocated for technology developers and medical trade groups like the Coalition for 21st Century Medicine before federal agencies, a white paper authored by Carey in 2014 shows. In the 1990s, he served as a legislative aid to Massachusetts Sen. Edward M. Kennedy on health care, biotechnology and drug legislation.
Foley’s media representative didn’t return a request for comment on the departures.
The additions come in preparation for the Food and Drug Administration’s newly proposed regulations for laboratory developed tests, announced in April, said Janice Hogan, practice group leader for Hogan Lovells’ global regulatory and IP media, and technology group.
“If implemented, that would be an important change in the market for test makers who have not been regulated to date,” Hogan said.
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