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Top South Dakota Litigation Law Firms To Merge

Oct 6, 15

TOP SOUTH DAKOTA LITIGATION LAW FIRMS TO MERGE

The legal landscape in Sioux Falls is about to change significantly.  Two of South Dakota's premier civil litigation firms have announced their intent to join forces.

On September 1, 2015, the four attorneys at The Janklow Law Firm will join the six attorneys at Johnson Abdallah LLP to create the largest civil litigation firm in South Dakota.  The new firm will be known as Johnson Janklow Abdallah LLP.  The full name of the firm will be Johnson, Janklow, Abdallah, Bollweg & Parsons LLP. The firm will office out of Johnson Abdallah’s existing law offices in the historic Security National Bank Building on 9th and Main in downtown Sioux Falls.

The merger reunites Russ Janklow with his former law partners.   Janklow left the firm in 2008 to practice law with his father and former Governor, Bill Janklow.

I’m excited about the opportunity,” said Janklow.  “I couldn’t be more proud of working with my Dad in his last years with the great legal team that we built here.  This merger will allow us to continue that work, help an even broader range of clients, and work on all sorts of complex litigation matters with some very talented lawyers who also happen to be good friends.”

For us, the timing was perfect,” said Scott Abdallah, managing partner at Johnson Abdallah. We all missed Russ from the moment he left.  We have kidded each other ever since about reuniting and things finally started coming together earlier this year.”

This is a perfect blending of very similar law practices,” added Steve Johnson, founding partner of Johnson Abdallah. “We’re delighted and eager to get to work.”

Both firms focus almost exclusively on civil litigation, including personal injury, business and commercial litigation, workers’ compensation, employment disputes, constitutional law, and appeals of all kinds. 

Attorneys joining the new firm from the Janklow law firm are Russ Janklow, Kimberly Lanham, Andrew Damgaard, and Jami Bishop.  Attorneys joining the firm from Johnson Abdallah are Steve Johnson, Scott Abdallah, Pamela Bollweg, Ron Parsons, Shannon Falon, and Delia Druley.

It is great to work with the attorneys at Johnson, Janklow, and Abdallah. They always provide excellent advice and service that is second to none.

Mike Miller | former NBA player

The lawyers at Johnson, Janklow, and Abdallah are consistently ranked as the top business lawyers in the state. Our business can always count on them to aggressively fight for our rights and provide straight-forward advice on complex issues.

Mark McNeary | Primrose Retirement Communities, LLC

Lawyers from Johnson, Janklow, and Abdallah regularly participate in legal education by judging intramural student skills competitions; helping prepare our nationally competitive litigation skills teams; serving or leading the South Dakota State Bar's Law School Committee; and, from time to time , providing guest lecturers. The Law School is grateful for the generous participation of lawyers like those from Johnson, Janklow, and Abdallah.

Tom Geu | former Dean, USD School of Law