Legal Briefs

By Staff
As published in: Franchise Times - February 2008

Plave Koch adds lawyers

Virginia-based franchise law firm Plave Koch will pass its first anniversary
this month. To celebrate, it's adding four more lawyers.

The firm at the end of January added Marisa Faunce, Leslie Curran and Jim
Rubinger—each of them from the law firm Wiley Rein. It also added J.H. Snow, who
is based in Dallas and will be of-counsel for the firm. "We knew exactly who it
was we wanted to practice with," said Lee Plave. "Our goal was not to add
people, per se, but to assemble exactly who we wanted to practice with."

The four attorneys bring to 10 the number of lawyers with Plave Koch. Plave,
Dave Koch and John Tifford started the law firm in February 2007. The three
former FTC lawyers left DLA Piper to start the firm largely to reduce their
rates. Plave said that large firms have higher overhead costs, which drives up
rates.

The firm added three more lawyers later in the year in Mike Laidhold, Mike
Kirsch and Regina Amolsch, in addition to franchise paralegal Halima Madjid.

With the FTC attorneys, along with the addition of Faunce and Curran, Plave
Koch's is largely a transactional law business. But, Plave said, "We can drop
the gloves, too." Rubinger, for instance, is a litigator.

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Franchise Times - February 2008