Dorsey & Whitney, a Minneapolis-based law firm founded in 1912, is undergoing a Midwest expansion by opening an office in Chicago.

The move is an element of the growth strategy led by Peter Nelson, who became Dorsey’s managing partner in July. The firm has about 650 attorneys worldwide, including 210 based in Minneapolis.

The Chicago office, which is being inaugurated by five attorneys, is the 22nd office location for Dorsey.

In announcing the office expansion on Monday, Dorsey indicated that it hired five new partners for the Chicago office and two partners for the existing Boise office. “These seven partners have been friends and colleagues for decades, and I cannot imagine a better group of partners to establish our Chicago presence and expand our Boise office,” Nelson said in a written statement.

The new lawyers have practices in family office and trust & estate planning as well as commercial litigation, securities litigation, and government investigations.

While Dorsey didn’t disclose it in its news release, the seven attorneys have been practicing in Chicago and Boise for the international law firm Perkins Coie. Their LinkedIn profiles listed their Perkins Coie service. Based on gross revenue of $1.26 billion in fiscal 2024, Perkins Coie was the 47th largest law firm in the United States, according to data compiled by The American Lawyer, an industry publication. Its net operating income was $310.5 million and its profits per lawyer were $292,000.

For fiscal 2024, Dorsey was No. 101 on the AmLaw list with $512.9 million in gross revenue. Its net operating income was $200.7 million, and its profits per lawyer were $367,000.

In making its announcement Monday, Dorsey said it plans to “hire additional attorneys for its new Chicago office soon, aiming to build a full-service presence in the nation’s third-largest legal market and economic and cultural capital of the Midwest.”

Domingo Such, who is based in the Chicago office, was named the new chair of Dorsey’s family office practice group. He earned his law degree from the Loyola University Chicago School of Law.

Jose Lopez has been chosen to serve as Dorsey’s new Chicago office chair. In his legal practice, Lopez has advised companies, officers, directors, and trustees on complicated securities litigation and enforcement matters. He earned his law degree at Northwestern University and early in his legal career was a senior enforcement attorney for the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.