A Law Firm Name With a Curious Ring

Here at DealBook, when two companies issue a press release about a big merger, we are quick to focus our attention on the bottom two paragraphs of an announcement. It is there where we find the lists of bankers and lawyers who counseled on the deal.

The announcement on Wednesday about the combination of Deutsche Telekom's T-Mobile and MetroPCS listed 14 different advisers - yes, 14 - that now get credit in the coveted league tables for their involvement in the deal.

Many of the usual suspects appeared in the lineup. Lazard was the financial adviser to Deutsche Telekom. J.P. Morgan was the lead financial adviser to Metro PCS. Law firms on the deal included Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz (for Deutsche Telekom) and Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher (for MetroPCS).

But one name on the roster stood out from the rest: Telecommunications Law Professionals.

Telecommunications Law Professionals? Was this a real firm? Was it a placeholder in the news release for a firm name that someone had forgotten to insert?

Our interest piqued, we did what any voraciously curious reporter would do: We Googled the name. Up popped the homepage for a law firm that, indeed, is called Telecommunications Law Professionals.

We called, and chatted Michael Lazarus, one of six lawyers at the boutique Washington law firm. Mr. Lazarus gave us the 411.

Telecommunications Law Professionals was started in Aug. 2011 by five lawyers who spun out from Paul Hastings, one of the country's largest firms. The firm specializes in providing regulatory counsel to telecommunications companies, helping them navigate the Federal Communications Commission and the thicket of federal laws related to the worlds of voice, data and video services.

So what's with the name?

“When we split off and started a boutique, we wanted to go with something very descriptive with what we were doing,” said Mr. Lazarus. “In terms of marketing you know what you're g etting right away.”

True, but Northrop, Lazarus & Morentz - the three surnames of the founding partners - would have had a nice ring to it, no?

“We wanted to stay away from any other law firms that has last names involved,” Mr. Lazarus said. “We thought it was a better way to go.”

Mr. Lazarus noted that the rules of the bar in the District of Columbia allowed for such a generic name even though other state bar associations require that a law firm's name include the surnames of partners.

Telecommunications Law Professionals has kept a good relationship with Paul Hastings - both firms are located in the same building and have worked closely together on deals.

On the T-Mobile/MetroPCS combination, Telecommunications Law Professionals provided regulatory advice to MetroPCS, while Gibson Dunn served as deal counsel and Paul Hastings advised on antitrust issues.

Among the reasons the lawyers split off from Paul Hastings was because of conflicts. MetroPCS was a big client of Mr. Northrop and Mr. Lazarus, and they would sometimes run into conflicts because Paul Hastings represented AT&T. Last summer, MetroPCS raised concerns over the ultimately scuttled the AT&T/T-Mobile mega-merger.

DealBook asked Mr. Lazarus if he had thought about whether the firm was pigeonholing itself by so narrowly defining its practice. What if, for example, Coca-Cola or Exxon was looking for legal advice inside the Beltway?

Mr. Lazarus appreciated our concern, and explained that they had begun calling themselves “T.L.P.” in the event that they eventually broaden out their practice.

“We're very happy with our name,” said Mr. Lazarus, “but T.L.P. might be what we end up as.”