Law firm Williams Mullen has signed a 75,000-square-foot lease to relocate to downtown Raleigh's RBC Plaza.

The building's owner, Raleigh's Highwoods Properties (NYSE: HIW), announced the lease Wednesday. It said the office space in 293,000-square-foot RBC Plaza, which is under construction, is now 95 percent preleased.

Williams Mullen will relocate from Highwoods Tower I in north Raleigh, where the law firm occupies 51,000 square feet. The company plans to move to RBC Plaza in the third quarter of 2009.

"We are excited to be moving to RBC Plaza and the heart of downtown Raleigh," Williams Mullen director Keith Kapp said in a statement. "This is a great opportunity for us to be in a central location in the newest office building in the city. We have been customers of Highwoods for many years and are very pleased to be able to extend this mutually beneficial relationship."

Triangle Business Journal first reported that Williams Mullen was looking to take space in the RBC Plaza.

The RBC Plaza, a 29-story tower that is the tallest building in the Triangle, is scheduled to open this fall with a mix of office, retail and condominium space. All 139 condominiums are under contract with non-refundable deposits, Highwoods says.

The second quarter of this year saw the pace of law firm mergers rise sharply in the U.S., according to a new report from legal consultancy Altman Weil Inc.

There were 26 new law firm mergers and acquisitions reported in April, May and June, compared to 18 during the first quarter of the year, according to Newtown Square, Pa.-based Altman Weil.

The largest of the latest law firm combinations was between K&L Gates, a 1,500-attorney firm, and Kennedy Convington Lobdell & Hickman, a 175-lawyer firm.

In Memphis there were no significant mergers reported for the quarter. However, in the previous quarter St. Louis-based Husch & Eppenberger LLC and Kansas City, Mo.,-based Blackwell Sanders LLP finalized their merger, which was first announced last September. Of the two, only Husch & Eppenberger had an office in Memphis.

In July 2007, Memphis-based Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz PC merged Atlanta-based Gambrell & Stolz LLP into the firm, adding 36 attorneys.

"Even in a deteriorating economy, law firms continue to pursue a growth strategy via merger and acquisition," said Altman Weil principal Tom Clay in a statement. "And based on our conversations with law firm leaders, we think the pace is unlikely to slow."

Ronald D'Alessandro has started a law firm, Keohane & D'Alessandro PLLC with offices in San Francisco, New York City and Albany, N.Y. "My partner is in San Francisco," said D'Alessandro. D'Alessandro, 35, met his law partner, Stephen Keohane about seven years ago when Keohane was counsel for IBM. "He was one of my best clients," D'Alessandro said. A senior associate, Darrell Pogue, is based in New York City.

D'Alessandro was one of the founders of the Albany intellectual property firm Hoffman, Warnick & D'Alessandro LLC. Michael Hoffman, Spencer Warnick and D'Alessandro started the firm about nine years ago when they met while working at another firm, Schmeiser Olsen & Watts LLP in Latham.

Last week, it was announced that the firm was rebranding, calling itself Hoffman Warnick LLC. D'Alessandro said he enjoyed starting up another firm.

"I didn't realize how much fun it was to be back at the grass roots," he said. "Each day can bring something different. You never know what the next day will bring. It can bring headaches but also a lot of interesting challenges."

It took a week for the furniture to arrive at his new office at 1881 Western Ave.

A White-Plains, N.Y.-based firm with a national reach has added an office in Jacksonville, making it the firm's 36th.

Former Akerman Senterfitt attorneys Richard N. Margulies and Benjamin D. Sharkey joined Jackson Lewis LLC as partners. Both attorneys practice labor and employment law.

"Ben and I were very familiar with Jackson Lewis and marveled at the expansion of their national footprint, especially in the last two years," said Margulies in a news release. "Their national network of offices gives us a real chance of expanding our client base outside of the Jacksonville region."

Jackson Lewis, founded in 1958, has more than 480 attorneys, whose expertise covers over 17 specialized practices of law.