The small Washington energy law firm Morley Caskin has joinedthe international ranks, merging with the 700-lawyer British firm,Cameron McKenna. Morley Caskin attorneys Joel Zipp and GeorgeWilliams Jr. are among the six lawyers being added to the largerfirm’s Washington office. The move was official Sept. 1, but willnot be physically accomplished until offices are ready next month.

Zipp said it’s the first time – to their knowledge – that aBritish law firm has merged with an American group. The MorleyCaskin group will “round out the capabilities” of the British firmin the U.S., Zipp said. “A lot of what they do is at highgovernment levels. We bring it down to the day-to-day. We’ll beable to provide a full continuum of legal services.”

Cameron McKenna has more than 65 lawyers in its energy group andhas offices in a number of major cities around the world. TheBritish firm’s Washington office, established three years ago, hasbeen representing the California ISO in the electric arena. Zipp,who has worked in both the natural gas and electric regulatoryareas, most recently has been devoting most of his time to PortlandNatural Gas and the PNGTS project connecting eastern Canadian gas.while Williams has been involved in the electric arena.

Zipp said his firm has been considering potential opportunitiesfor several years. As a small firm Morley Caskin has had difficultyattracting talented newcomers because it could not offer youngattorneys diversified experience, Zipp said. Cameron McKenna’spractice is “on the cutting edge and opens up the internationalarena.” The British firm, which is the seventh or eighth largest inEngland, has won awards as the best large British law firm in 1998and for having the energy team of the year in 1997.

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