Are there particular practice groups that constitute the core strength of the combination?
Kalis: One of the things we want to be careful about concerns our responsiveness to the market. The market will tell us which of our practice areas it wants to feature. Historically, we have had a highly active transactional practice. In the U.S. that involves hundreds of M&A transactions and an enormous volume of debt and equity offerings. We are the only U.S. firm ranked among the leaders in London’s AIM market. The market appears to be telling us that the M&A and securities areas should be featured. That is also true of our large financial services practices. If you look at the combined firm’s IP practice, you see an extraordinary array of assets and resources across the globe. In the U.S. alone there is an extraordinary IP group in Seattle and historically strong practices in Pittsburgh and Boston. In January of 2005, two dozen IP lawyers joined our strong biotech-driven practice in Boston from Testa Hurwitz & Thibeault. Preston Gates has had an historical relationship with Microso
