By James Boyle

What started months ago as a lateral hire has evolved into firm Semanoff Ormsby Greenberg & Torchia adding the entire estate planning practice from the now- closed Dolchin Slotkin & Todd to its office in the Philadelphia suburbs.

Zachary Dolchin, Wendy Cooper and Stephen Frishberg will join Semanoff Ormsby’s office in Huntingdon Valley, Pennsylvania, on Monday. The move will come just days after their former firm Dolchin Slotkin winded down business Thursday following co-founder Jerry Dolchin’s retirement after more than 50 years. Zachary Dolchin, Jerry’s son, told Law360 Pulse in an interview Friday that the feeling is bittersweet as he closes his father’s firm and gets set to bring his practice to Semanoff Ormsby.

“As you can tell, this was a family firm and my dad was one of the co-founders,” Dolchin said. “He had an amazing career that lasted more than half a century, and there is some sadness that I am no longer working with him. But I know I will carry on his legacy with Semanoff Ormsby and serve our clients even better with a place with more attorneys.”

Cooper echoed those sentiments while speaking with Law360 Pulse Friday, saying she spent 35 years building her practice at a place she considered her home away from home and around people that were like a second family. However, she is comforted knowing there is now a succession plan at Semanoff Ormsby for her clients when she decides to retire.

“This is a new phase in our lives, and I am looking forward to a new start,” Cooper said. “This is a firm with good people with a lot of collegiality and resources. I no longer fear what will happen to my clients when I retire. They will have a great home.”

Expanding Semanoff Ormsby’s estate planning services with the additions of Zachary Dolchin as partner, as of counsel Cooper and Frishberg, and their former firm’s paralegal helped Semanoff Ormsby follow through on a pledge it made seven years ago, firm co-founder Charles W. Ormsby Jr. told Law360 Pulse Friday. That promise was to keep building the firm’s estate practice after Semanoff Ormsby acquired a solo firm managed by attorney Brian Price in 2015.

“We’re always looking for talented attorneys, and estate planning is one of our biggest groups. We got a big boost when we acquired Brian’s practice,” Ormsby said. “And one of the commitments we made was to continue to surround him with talented people in estate administration and planning.”
Ormsby said that commitment is now coming to fruition with the firm’s move to bring over Dolchin Slotkin’s estate team. The deal started with an interview with Zachary Dolchin, who did not plan to take over management of Dolchin Slotkin when his father retired. As the lateral hiring process continued, Ormsby became more familiar with Jerry Dolchin.

“We met Zach and saw he is an engaging, personable guy with good energy,” Ormsby said. “This was just something that started as an employment process, and I was not thinking anything more would come from it. I started speaking with his father, and it developed into a good friendship. At one point, he asked if we wanted the estate practice.”

Interviews with Cooper and Frishberg quickly showed Ormsby and the rest of Semanoff Ormsby’s estate team that there was a good fit between the two groups. When the Dolchin team officially starts on Monday, Semanoff Ormsby’s estate practice will feature 15 attorneys and staff support who all have the same approach to the delicate and complicated work of estate planning.

“We want people who care, not just about their clients and practice, but also others and the people in this office,” Ormsby said. “Intelligence is necessary in an estate attorney, but they also need to have empathy for people. They get to know their clients’ situation and their needs. These are relationships that can span decades. We get to know them on a deep, emotional level.”

Law360 (July 14, 2023, 4:13 PM EDT) –Editing by Melissa Treolo.

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