NEW YORK CITY-Shortly after the first newspaper articles appeared about the controversy surrounding law firm Dewey & LeBoeuf, Stuart Saft, one of the firm’s top real estate lawyers, started getting calls from all around town. “Even two out-of-town firms who don’t have an office in New York offered to open an office if I would move my practice into it,” he tells GlobeSt.com. “It was just fascinating that they wanted to take that kind of risk.”

But after several discussions with many different firms, Saft was offered a gig as partner and co-chair of Holland & Knight’s New York real estate practice group alongside fellow co-chair Martin Miner. “With the incredible talent that’s here already and the people that I hope will be joining me here, we really will become a major New York real estate practice,” Saft says, noting that he cannot disclose any other personnel moves due to the early nature of the conversations.

Holland & Knight, a global law firm with more than 1,000 lawyers in 17 US offices, as well as Abu Dhabi, Beijing and Mexico City, has over 100 attorneys in Manhattan, and will work to expand its New York footprint, Saft says. “All of the elements are here and it really is wonderful because the firm is going to support it, and it is the reason they reached out and wanted me to come here,” he says. “It’s an extraordinarily exciting prospect, particularly in light of Holland’s strength in real estate all over the country.”