Partners Vote to Create “K&L Gates”

Kirkpatrick & Lockhart Nicholson Graham LLP and Preston Gates & Ellis LLP Announce Combination Effective January 1, 2007

NEW YORK AND SEATTLE — Kirkpatrick & Lockhart Nicholson Graham LLP (K&LNG) and Preston Gates & Ellis LLP (PG&E) today announced that their partners have voted overwhelmingly in favor of a proposed combination of the two firms effective January 1, 2007. The name of the combined firm will be Kirkpatrick & Lockhart Preston Gates Ellis LLP, and the firm will be branded as "K&L Gates." K&L Gates will comprise approximately 1,400 lawyers and 21 offices located in North America, Europe and Asia. The combination will rank as one of the most substantial in the history of the legal profession, and it will create one of the world’s largest law firms. The firm will be expected to have revenue exceeding US$750 Million in 2007, its first full year of existence.

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