PROVIDENCE – Law firm Duffy & Sweeney Ltd. is merging with a much larger Pennsylvania-based firm that is looking to enter the New England market.
Stevens & Lee has more than 200 attorneys in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York and Delaware and said Providence will become its 16th office.
Both firms said the Providence location – which has 13 attorneys, according to Providence Business News' 2025 Book of Lists – will maintain the Duffy & Sweeney name, but there will be an added reference to the office being "a division of Stevens & Lee."
Duffy & Sweeney founding partners and shareholders Robert M. Duffy and Michael F. Sweeney will serve as co-chairs of Stevens & Lee New England. The two founded the law firm in 1996, and, in recent years, it has been a consistent honoree in PBN's annual Best Places to Work event.
“Our clients and our people are at the heart of every decision we make,” Sweeney said. “For 30 years, Duffy & Sweeney has been a trusted Rhode Island and southern New England institution, and this merger with Stevens & Lee ensures we have the platform, resources and reach to continue to provide exceptional service to our clients for many years to come.”
A full-service law firm, Reading, Pa.-based Stevens & Lee focuses on health care, executive compensation and employee benefits, bankruptcy, labor and employment, as well as intellectual property and trust and estate matters.
“Duffy & Sweeney has an excellent reputation as a top-tier New England transaction and litigation boutique," said Stevens & Lee President and CEO William P. Thornton Jr. "They are entrepreneurial, have a business-minded approach to the practice of law, and a culture of client service and teamwork that mirrors our own."
“This move is part of our strategic growth plan in the New England market," Thornton said. "Duffy & Sweeney has a loyal base of middle market and larger clients and together we will offer a broader range of services creating greater value for the companies we serve."
The honorees for PBN’s 2025 Best Places to Work – including Duffy & Sweeney – will be recognized on June 12 in a ceremony at Crowne Plaza Providence-Warwick, where the company rankings in each category will be announced. Approximately 650 attendees attended last year’s sold-out event.
