Pillsburyhired a five lawyer real estate team away from Orrick in New York, including the only two real estate partners in Orrick’s NYC office.  The partners, Marc Shapiro and Jill Block, are joined by counsel Susan Saslow, and associates Jason Schlessel and Christine Roch.  This move represents a bet on real estate, a practice that has suffered during the economic downturn.  If Pillsbury is right and the market bounces back this year, then the firm will be well placed to take advantage of it in New York.

The acquisition of a group of lawyers has been a trend lately as firms are more particular about who they bring on board.  A team of lawyers can hit the ground running more quickly than a single partner and we’ve seen several such moves in the last few months – most recently, Blank Rome picked up a seven lawyer consumer financial services group.