Law firm in ‘alliance’ with the Cohen Group

WASHINGTON – The Piper Rudnick law firm, which is in advanced discussions to acquire Verner, Liipfert, Bernhard, McPherson and Hand, struck a “strategic alliance” this week with the Cohen Group, headed by former defense secretary William Cohen.

Strategic alliances are various arrangements by which firms work together from time to time on clients and offer each other’s services.

Piper Rudnick, a law firm of 825 lawyers, specializes in business law, real estate and litigation. If it acquires Verner, Piper Rudnick would take on a government relations practice that includes former senators George Mitchell, D-Maine, and Robert Dole, R-Kan. The Cohen Group, which specializes in international strategic business consulting, will add its insight into how government and the people in government work.