Attorneys Peter Stein and Ralph Moore have transferred their law practice to the firm of Gislason & Hunter. For 40 years, the pair had led the Stein & Moore, P.A. law firm in St. Paul; their integration into the New Ulm, Minn.-based law firm began officially on May 7.
Gislason & Hunter, founded more than 80 years ago, is a firm of more than 40 attorneys, working out of four offices. In addition to New Ulm, the firm has an office in Golden Valley, Minn., where Stein and Moore are working, Mankato and Des Moines, Iowa.
Stein said he and Moore bring to the firm more than 30 banking clients made of up large regionals and small community banks.
Timothy Tobin, managing partner at Gislason & Hunter, announced the new working partnership on April 16. Tobin said Stein and Moore will continue to provide legal counsel in the areas of loan enforcement and litigation, foreclosures, workouts, creditor’s rights in bankruptcy, chapter 11 bankruptcies, SBA lending, loan documentation, loan product development, UCC matters, bank operations issues and lender liability defense.
“We came together because we have similar cultures,” Stein explained. “Gislason & Hunter has a broader practice, and brings more muscle to some of our practice areas. It is a good cultural fit.”
Stein said in recent years it has become more difficult for a small law firm to maintain the technology necessary to meet the demands for privacy and confidentiality. He said soon after he and Moore began looking for possible merger candidates, officials from Gislason & Hunter approached them about the possibility of working together.
Stein said some of the other well-known attorneys from Stein & Moore have pursued new directions. Mary Cox, for example, recently retired. Truman Schabilion took a job at U.S. Bank; Eric Sherburne recently joined the law firm of Eckberg Lammers in Stillwater, Minn.
Stein said Gislason & Hunter has an active mergers and acquisitions practice in the banking arena. In addition to banking, Gislason & Hunter has a strong practice in medical malpractice, human resources, employment law and family law.