SKO merges with Jeffersonville law firm in new acquisition
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Kentucky- and Indiana-based Stoll Keenon Ogden PLLC is continuing to expand into the Hoosier State, with the firm announcing a new merger in August with Jeffersonville’s Applegate Fifer Pulliam.
Doug Barr, SKO’s managing director, told Indiana Lawyer the acquisition is a natural expansion for the firm, with Jeffersonville being connected to the Louisville market.
The merger went into effect Aug. 1.
Barr said SKO has had a longstanding relationship with AFP and that with the acquisition, SKO will add four attorneys.
“They are more business lawyers as opposed to litigators,” Barr said of the AFP attorneys.
According to the firm, the merger brings SKO’s total staff to more than 170 attorneys across Kentucky and Indiana, with experience in more than 50 practices and industries, working out of six offices–including the new Jeffersonville location.
Barr said the merger would allow SKO to draw on AFP’s expertise in corporate transactions, mergers and acquisitions, corporate finance and banking law.
“Jeffersonville is a growing community with lots of business investment there,” Barr said, adding that real estate development is growing in the area.
With the addition of the Jeffersonville firm, clients will be able to cross the states’ borders, Barr said.
He said the AFP attorneys have been handling M&A clients and cases in Jeffersonville and Southern Indiana for several years.
“The fact that we have a longstanding relationship with that firm, whenever you’re looking to add lawyers it’s important to develop trust,” Barr said.
Barr noted that AFP attorneys have a strong reputation for excellence in the legal community and adding them to SKO aligns perfectly with the firm’s ongoing commitment to being a market leader and serving its clients at the highest level.
The SKO acquisition of AFP follows the firm’s 2022 merger with an Indianapolis-based firm.
SKO had a very small office in Indianapolis prior to the merger, with fewer than 10 attorneys, when it approached Indianapolis-based Katz Korin Cunningham about a possible merger.
With that merger, SKO increased its presence in Indianapolis from seven lawyers to 45 and, in combination with its substantial and growing number of lawyers in Evansville (20), now has a total of 65 Indiana-based lawyers and 118 Kentucky-based lawyers.
According to the firm, AFP will continue to serve its existing clients without interruption and SKO’s existing leadership structure will not change.
Attorneys joining the SKO team include Abigail Fargen Riley, Alan Applegate, Alex Gaddis and Keith Pulliam.
“We at AFP are excited to join forces with SKO,” said Pulliam in a news release. “This move allows us to offer our clients an expanded range of services locally while still providing the personalized attention they’ve come to expect in Southern Indiana. Were excited to contribute our skills and experience and become part of SKO’s exceptional team.”
Barr said that SKO had often sent and received referrals from AFP. He said he’s known Pulliam and Applegate at least 20 years.
“We’re serious about strengthening the firm,” Barr said.