Healthcare team leaves Atlanta law firm for regional competitor

After 18 years at Atlanta law firm Hall Booth Smith, partner Brittany Cone has moved her team of healthcare specialists to regional competitor Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein, where they will continue serving clients nationwide from a Midtown base.

Cone and her seven teammates, including several nonlawyer professionals, guide the operations of nursing and assisted living facilities and other healthcare providers, staying on top of changes to regulatory oversight, among other things.

Their move to the Southeast firm solidifies its authority in the field locally and strengthens its already robust healthcare practice overall, said Ellen Smith, head of development for the Atlanta office.

“Healthcare is one of the rare industries, for the Atlanta office of Parker Poe in Georgia, where we didn’t already have a major presence in the state from an industry perspective,” Smith told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “And Brittany and her team are excellent, so it’s a huge coup.”

Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein partners, (from left to right), Jordan Johnson, Brittany Cone and Ellen Smith, are among more than 50 attorneys at the law firm's Atlanta office. Cone and Johnson moved to the Southeast firm this month from Hall Booth Smith, along with six other healthcare specialists. (Arvin Temkar/AJC)

The team’s move this month represents the largest addition to Parker Poe’s Atlanta office since 2022, when it took 16 education attorneys from Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough. Parker Poe, founded in North Carolina in 1884, opened its Atlanta office in 2016 and has more than 300 attorneys in eight locations.

Smith, a commercial real estate partner, said the Atlanta office now has around 55 lawyers, up from about nine when she joined eight years ago. They occupy the majority of the 15th and 17th floors of the 1075 Peachtree building.

“Part of the thing that I’m exceptionally proud of is that it has been strategic growth,” she said. “The firm is not somebody who’s come into Atlanta with an intent of just gobbling up other firms. That isn’t how we do business.”

Cone said she wasn’t planning to leave Hall Booth Smith, which has grown to more than 420 lawyers in 13 states since its establishment in Atlanta in 1989. She said she had conversations over time about joining Parker Poe and that “it seemed like the right road to go down.”

Healthcare attorney Brittany Cone spent 18 years at Atlanta law firm Hall Booth Smith before taking her team to regional competitor Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein this month. (Arvin Temkar/AJC)

“I considered other firms at various times throughout my practice, but whenever I was approached about Parker Poe, it just very quickly felt like a good fit,” Cone told the AJC. “It felt like a place that if I did end up making that move, that would allow my team and my clients to have additional support and resources and to grow.”

The team, including partner Jordan Johnson and associate Caylie Cross, finished at Hall Booth Smith at the end of July and started at Parker Poe in early August. In addition to three attorneys, the team comprises healthcare reimbursement director Becky Hewitt, legal assistant Ashley Love and reimbursement specialists Amy Davis, Amy Evans and Teresa Westmoreland.

“Parker Poe is business focused, so with that comes a level of expertise across every facet that a business can encounter,” said Johnson, who joined Cone’s team at Hall Booth Smith straight out of law school a decade ago and became a partner in 2024.

Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein partner Jordan Johnson told the AJC he's excited about joining the law firm's Atlanta office this month after a decade at Hall Booth Smith. (Arvin Temkar/AJC)

Hall Booth Smith partner Drew Graham, who leads the firm’s aging services practice group, said he and his colleagues wish the team all the best. He said the firm has recently welcomed “a number of excellent attorneys” around the country.

“We are really proud of the healthcare and aging services teams that we have built into a true leader on the national stage, and the attorneys like Brittany and Jordan that have been a part of that journey,” Graham told the AJC.

The team’s move comes as other law firms are expanding their presence in Atlanta while the local economy flourishes.

This month, large national law firm Maynard Nexsen secured an additional floor in its Midtown building, increasing its Atlanta office space threefold since it opened a year ago.