National insurance coverage law firm Nicolaides Fink Thorpe Michaelides Sullivan recently opened a Dallas office with three attorneys from Thompson, Coe, Cousins & Irons.
The new office – the firm’s fifth in the U.S. – will be led by Ellen Van Meir, who had spent her entire 25-year career at Thompson Coe. Joining Van Meir are partners Mariah Quiroz and associate Conor McCall.
“This is a wonderful opportunity to work with lawyers I’ve admired over time that I’ve known through mutual clients,” said Van Meir, a graduate of the University of Texas School of Law. “They do great work in the same unique area I’m in.”
Two of those mutual clients are AIG and Markel. Van Meir said her group does a significant amount of work in the oil and gas, construction and trucking industries. She represents her clients in complex disputes arising out of catastrophic bodily injury, cyber, environmental, intellectual property, professional malpractice and property damage claims.
“Our goal is to grow this office in Texas and take advantage of the dynamic legal market here and the need for coverage services,” she said.
Van Meir pointed out that Nicolaides Fink is an industry leader on the insurance coverage side in the opioid litigation and she is excited to be a part of that work.
With the new hires, Nicolaides Fink has added 14 attorneys across the firm this year bringing its total headcount to 68. The firm opened in 2014 and also has offices in Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco and San Diego.
“While our firm already handles insurance coverage disputes all over the country, it is very exciting to know we will now have boots on the ground in Texas, as well as Ellen’s years of experience to rely upon,” Sara Thorpe, a San Francisco-based partner at Nicolaides Fink, said in a statement. “Ellen, Mariah, and Conor are a great compliment to what the firm has been able to accomplish over the past six years.”