Phoenix’s Fennemore Craig merges with Fresno’s Dowling Aaron

Fennemore Craig PC, a 135-year-old firm with offices throughout the Mountain West, and Dowling Aaron Inc., a full service firm headquartered in Fresno, agreed to merge, effective Oct. 1.

Uniting the firms creates a team of more than 350 lawyers and legal professionals under the name Fennemore Craig Dowling Aaron with 10 offices in the Western United Statees, including Fresno, Visalia, Bakersfield and Sacramento as well as six offices in Arizona, Colorado and Nevada.

"This combination puts Fennemore Craig Dowling Aaron on the map as an industry leader in the western United States for several practice areas, including agribusiness, water law, and trust and estate work. When coupled with our deep litigation and transactional bench, we believe we're able to help clients with all of their business needs in a way that's unmatched in our markets," James Goodnow, who will serve as the combined firm's CEO, said in an email. "In the Central Valley, in particular, we're bringing a value-proposition to the table that we believe doesn't exist at any other firm today. Specifically, we're creating a firm with a national footprint and more horsepower, more resources, and more knowledge -- all while preserving the exceptional value that clients have come to expect from Dowling Aaron. We really believe there's nothing like us in the Central Valley market, and the real winners from this will be our clients."

The combined firm's key practice areas will include business and finance, mergers and acquisitions, real estate, construction, health care, business litigation, natural resources and environment, tax and bankruptcy.

The newly formed firm will be led by Goodnow, Fennemore Craig's CEO, while Dowling Aaron's President, Leigh W. Burnside, will serve on the management committee.

Dowling Aaron's named partner and chair, Richard M. Aaron, will become the California region chair. Sarah A. Strunk, chair of Fennemore Craig's board of directors, will serve as chair of the combined firm's board of directors.

Major, Lindsey & Africa announced its role as facilitators of the merger on Thursday. Major, Lindsey's managing director of the partner practice group, Howard Cohl, facilitated the combination.

"I spent a lot of time getting to know the culture at Fennemore Craig, to the point I had an intuitive feel for what could be a synergistic match. When I began speaking to Dowling Aaron, it really clicked as their practices were so complementary," Cohl said in a statement. "We at MLA are excited to have brought these terrific firms together, and we are certain that great things lie ahead for them."