Stephanie Friese (from left) Christian Torgrimson and Julie Sellers. (Courtesy photos)
Commercial real estate boutique Pursley Friese Torgrimson has disbanded—a victim of its own success, the firm's principals said.
The close-knit boutique, which provided an in-house nanny for the children of its 12 lawyers and staff, had reached a point where it needed to get much bigger or become part of a larger firm, said co-managing partners Stephanie Friese and Christian Torgrimson, who are both joining much larger out-of-state firms.
“Our firm was a victim of its own success,” Friese said. “It grew so quickly that we had outgrown our shoes as far as infrastructure. At the same time, our clients were getting bigger and more sophisticated.”
“It became apparent to us that we could choose to either focus on our client work or spend significant time and resources building our business," she added.
Friese, who handles real estate transactions and litigation, joined forces with Torgrimson and Charles Pursley to launch the boutique in 2013. It added a zoning team when Julie Sellers and Doug Dillard joined in 2015 from Weissman Nowack Curry & Wilco (now Weissman).
Torgrimson’s mentor, Pursley, is likely the most eminent eminent domain lawyer in the state. He wrote the book on it for Georgia, in fact, after getting his start handling all the condemnations for MARTA’s new rail system in the 1970s.
Similarly, Sellers’ mentor, Dillard, is the eminence grise of Georgia zoning law, handling everything from the zoning for Perimeter Mall in the 1970s to State Farm’s new Sandy Springs headquarters more recently.
“There were tears when we parted ways yesterday,” said Torgrimson, who spoke to the Daily Report on Friday, her first day at her new firm, Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein.
“We have great affinity and respect for each other,” she added. “We liked the idea of a whole-firm transition, but we realized each practice area had different needs.”
Torgrimson joined Parker Poe, based in Charlotte, as a partner on Friday with the rest of Pursley Friese’s eminent domain team: Pursley and Angela Robinson as special counsel and Elizabeth Story as counsel. Bob Stubbs, an experienced real estate lawyer, joined as special counsel. Paralegal Lisa Bass and two other staff members also made the move.
Friese joined Chamberlain, Hrdlicka, White, Williams & Aughtry, based in Texas, as a partner along with her colleague of 18 years, Christine Norstadt, as senior counsel.
Sellers and Dillard eschewed Big Law and instead started their own zoning law firm, Dillard Sellers, located in south Buckhead at 1776 Peachtree St. N.W.
Pursley Friese’s other zoning lawyers, Baxter Russell and Jeff Haymore, joined them along with paralegal Jennifer Taylor. Haymore had joined Pursley Friese last fall after more than a decade with the city of Atlanta law department litigating land-use matters.
While Torgrimson and Friese chose large multistate firms, Sellers said her team's zoning work is predominantly in metro Atlanta and based on relationships.
“We’re not going to Nashville to do zoning. I don’t know the city council members,” said Sellers, who chairs the city of Atlanta’s Urban Design Commission. “Keeping a smaller environment is what attracted us to Pursley Friese Torgrimson initially. We want to maintain that.”
Dillard Sellers' clients are property owners and real estate developers for projects ranging from residential subdivisions to mixed-use projects and industrial properties. That includes developer S. J. Collins, which just opened North Decatur Square, a $90 million, mixed-use shopping district in Decatur that is anchored by a Whole Foods Market 365.
Attorneys at other firms often hire them for clients' land-use matters, Sellers said. Staying small means they can offer rate flexibility and that the lawyers engaging them don't have to worry about their clients getting poached.