Merzbach & Solomon P.C. to Join Harter Secrest & Emery LLP Effective November 1, 2022
Transition will be effective November 1
Rochester, New York, September 28, 2022 – Two Rochester law firms will combine, as Merzbach & Solomon, P.C. joins Harter Secrest & Emery, LLP. Merzbach & Solomon Partners Ralph K. Merzbach and Steven Y. Solomon, and Paralegal Dina E. Beaudette, will join Harter Secrest & Emery effective November 1 in the Corporate and Transactional practice.
“Merzbach & Solomon is an exceptional firm with an impeccable reputation. We are excited to add their expertise to what Harter Secrest & Emery provides to our clients, to welcome their clients into our firm, and, most importantly, to bring such talented and well-regarded lawyers like Ralph Merzbach and Steve Solomon into our Harter Secrest & Emery family,” said Harter Secrest & Emery Managing Partner Craig S. Wittlin.
Merzbach & Solomon provides a full spectrum of business law services to clients, from formation and new business ventures to mergers and acquisitions and succession planning. Ralph K. Merzbach founded the firm in 1998, after a 20-year career at Woods Oviatt Gilman LLP in Rochester. Steven Y. Solomon joined the firm in 2007, after practicing as an associate at Woods Oviatt Gilman, and was named a partner in 2012.
“From a client service, business, and operational standpoint, Harter Secrest & Emery checked all of the boxes, but it was more than that. Culture is tremendously important to me. The collaborative nature at Harter Secrest & Emery is a perfect fit with how we have run our firm for the past 24 years. We share a client-centric mentality in which solving client problems is the ultimate focus and goal.”
Ralph K. Merzbach
Partner
“We have had excellent experiences and relationships with Harter Secrest & Emery attorneys over the years,” added Solomon. “Our client bases fit very well together, and the depth of areas of concentration at Harter Secrest & Emery will be of great benefit to our existing clients. The complexity of issues in today’s business climate often requires more focus on specialty areas of law. We can offer that subject matter depth at Harter Secrest & Emery while maintaining the connectivity and direct relationships that we value and that our clients deserve and expect.”
Merzbach concentrates his practice in transactional law. Throughout his more than 40-year career, he has represented clients across a broad spectrum of legal affairs from the ordinary to the complex. His experience includes mergers and acquisitions, private placements, venture capital transactions for investors and issuers, fund review for endowment and other institutional investors, business succession planning, complex corporate reorganizations, analysis and negotiation of complex corporate structures, contract and business owner disputes, joint ventures, business formations, business owners’ agreements, distribution and supply relationships, commercial real estate, commercial leasing and lending transactions. His clients have ranged from public companies and institutions to small family-owned enterprises. Merzbach has been selected for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America® in Corporate Law and Mergers and Acquisitions and selected for inclusion in the Upstate New York Super Lawyers list for Corporate/Business Law each year since 2007. He was previously named as Best Lawyers® “Lawyer of the Year” in Rochester for Mergers and Acquisitions Law and Corporate Law.
A graduate of the University of Rochester, Merzbach earned his J.D. from the University of Pennsylvania Law School
Solomon is a corporate and business lawyer who frequently serves as primary outside counsel to start-up, closely-held and mid-sized private companies. As legal counsel to start-up companies, he guides clients through critical early decisions including formation and ownership structure to support strategic growth, raising funds through private placements, and business succession planning. His transactional experience includes counseling clients on mergers and acquisitions, sales, and commercial financing. Solomon also advises clients on commercial contracts including owners’ agreements, distribution, supply and manufacturing agreements, technology licensing and joint venture relationships. He has been selected by his peers for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America® for Corporate Law, Closely Held Companies, Family Business Law, and Business Organizations, and was previously named as Best Lawyers® “Lawyer of the Year” in Rochester for Closely Held Companies and Family Business law.
Solomon graduated from Lafayette College and earned his J.D. from American University Washington College of Law.
As a certified paralegal by the Empire State Alliance of Paralegal Associations, Inc., Beaudette concentrates on general corporate and business matters, mergers and acquisitions, commercial real estate, financing transactions, design professional firm licensing, and securities. She joined Merzbach & Solomon in 2007 and was recognized as “Paralegal of the Year” by the Paralegal Association of Rochester in 2017.
Harter Secrest & Emery’s corporate attorneys counsel public and private companies on a full spectrum of corporate legal needs, including mergers and acquisitions, divestitures, strategic alliances, securities, entity formation, contract negotiations, corporate finance, and succession planning. Described by Chambers and Partners as “a leading name for major transactions, with a catalogue of high-value, impressive deals in its portfolio,” the group represents entrepreneurs and start-up organizations, to large private and public Fortune 100 companies. Leveraging industry experience to provide strategic advice, Harter Secrest & Emery counsels companies in a variety of industries, including agriculture, financial services, food and beverage, health care, higher education, manufacturing, retail, and technology, among others. The firm is nationally-ranked in Corporate Law by U.S News – Best Lawyers ® “Best Law Firms” and recognized by Chambers USA, the worldwide leader in law firm rankings, with a Band 1 rating for Corporate/M&A.
About Harter Secrest & Emery LLP
Harter Secrest & Emery LLP is a full-service business law firm providing legal services to clients ranging from individuals and family-owned businesses to Fortune 100 companies and major regional institutions. With offices in Buffalo, Rochester, Albany, Corning, and New York City, New York, the firm is a recognized leader in litigation, corporate, employee benefits, environmental and land use, health care, higher education, immigration, intellectual property, labor and employment, real estate, and trusts and estates law. Harter Secrest & Emery has 38 U.S. News – Best Lawyers® 2022 “Best Law Firms” top tier metropolitan practice group rankings—more Western New York rankings than any other law firm. The firm has been honored by Chambers USA for Corporate/M&A, Environment, Labor & Employment, Litigation, Immigration, and Real Estate law and 50 attorneys are recognized as The Best Lawyers in America® for 2023. For more information visit www.hselaw.com.
