Major law firm opens in Reno

Holland & Hart, a Denver-based law firm that's the largest in the West, has opened an office in Reno.

Robert Ryan, a Reno attorney who has practiced in the field of intellectual property, joined Holland & Hart as a partner and is spearheading development of the Reno office. He previously was associated with the Reno office of Klarquist Sparkman LLP.

Lawrence Wolfe, the managing partner of Holland & Hart, said last week the firm has handled a lot of work in the natural resources area in Nevada and was looking for an opportunity to expand its intellectual property practice in the state.

"Finding opportunity in a new city is always a matter of finding the right people with the right kind of practice," he said.

Intellectual property work, Wolfe said, is a fast-growing segment for law firms and is important as well because it provides entree into a variety of clients who might turn to the firm for other legal services.

Holland & Hart expects to beef up the Reno office and expand its reach beyond intellectual property. Wolfe said the firm also expects it will move at some point from its current quarters in the U.S. Bank Building at 1 E. Liberty.

The firm operates 14 offices across the West and employs about 350 attorneys. In 2006, it opened a Las Vegas office, which currently employs six attorneys.

Ryan, who heads the Reno office, is a graduate of the Northwestern University law school and earned bachelor's degrees in industrial engineering and economics from the University of Illinois.

He also has worked as chief legal officer for a company that distributed digital content and has taught courses in intellectual property to graduate-level business students at the University of Nevada, Reno.