Legal Raid

Statewide legal powerhouse Gunster is the newest business-focused law firm to enter the Tampa Bay market, arriving en masse by raiding the entirety of another big Florida law firm's Tampa office.

The nine lawyers that had made up the Tampa office of Ruden McCloskey — the South Florida firm that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in November — are now the Tampa office for Palm Beach-based Gunster.

“Gunster has been interested in Tampa Bay for some period of time,” says James Soble, a shareholder in Gunster's new Tampa office and one of the nine lawyers from Ruden McCloskey. “The goal is to be a full-service business law firm serving the business community.”