Two months in, McNees adds attorney Rachel J. Counts to suburban Baltimore office
July 10, 2023
Press Releases
TOWSON, Md. — (July 10, 2023) McNees Wallace & Nurick is bolstering its Baltimore County, Md., team just two months after the office’s launch with the addition of real estate attorney and litigator Rachel J. Counts.
Counts assists owners and managers of residential and commercial properties on matters related to Maryland’s property management laws and processes. Prior to joining McNees, she litigated workers’ compensation matters for injured workers throughout Maryland, at the Workers’ Compensation Commission and at the Maryland Circuit and Appellate Courts. Counts also served as a paralegal both with the U.S. Copyright Office in the Office of General Counsel and the U.S. Department of Justice’s Environmental and Natural Resources Division in the Law and Policy Section.
Before becoming an attorney, Counts had a successful career in the financial sector advising clients on investments, lending options and other business banking products for businesses ranging from start-ups to commercial, along with payroll and other processing services.
“We’re excited to welcome Rachel as our first new hire since we opened as a McNees office earlier this spring,” Alan Betten, managing member of McNees’ Towson office, said. “Rachel is a zealous advocate for her clients and we’re happy to bring her talent to our clients in Maryland.”
Since McNees opened its Towson office in April, the firm has been committed to broadening its legal offerings and business services in Maryland to help clients achieve their goals. The team of 15 attorneys and support professionals has a niche practice in property management law as well as real estate, construction, commercial business and related litigation experience. They are supported by McNees’ growing bench of more than 150 multidisciplinary attorneys and its government relations, human resources, strategic communications and municipal consulting professionals.
“I am dedicated to serving my local community, having previously represented clients in the Landlord and Tenant Court of the District of Columbia, and I am excited to join a firm that includes community service among its core tenets,” Counts said.
The firm’s combined team of four dozen real estate and construction attorneys, paralegals and specialists serve clients nationally from offices throughout Pennsylvania and Maryland. They provide sophisticated legal advice in virtually all areas relating to commercial real estate and construction projects. The team’s client base includes contractors and sub-contractors, residential and commercial real estate developers, investors, lenders, commercial property owners, home builders, real estate investment trusts, condominiums, homeowner associations, other businesses and nonprofits and managers of residential rental units, office buildings, shopping centers, warehouses.
McNees has experienced significant growth over the past two years strategically enhancing the firm’s range and reach of client services over the past two years. In addition to the firm’s new suburban Baltimore office, it expanded its geographic footprint across Pennsylvania, first in Devon, Chester County, in February 2021, followed by Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, in December 2021 with a team of eight construction, real estate and corporate attorneys. McNees doubled its bench of legal talent in Frederick, Md., to include attorneys who practice in real estate, construction, corporate and tax law, among others, then relocated the team to a larger office.
In addition to its legal practice, McNees expanded its title company, Pine Street Land Company, which includes a team of Pennsylvania- and Maryland-licensed title agents that conduct commercial and residential real estate settlements. Beyond serving clients’ legal needs, McNees launched four new ancillary businesses to meet client needs for public relations and strategic communications, municipal consulting, auto dealership transaction services and human resource management and strategy.
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McNees is a multidisciplinary law firm founded in 1935 with more than 150 attorneys representing businesses, associations, institutions, municipalities and individuals. The firm serves clients worldwide from offices in Devon, Harrisburg, Lancaster, Pittsburgh, Scranton, State College and York, Pa.; Columbus, Ohio; Frederick and Towson, Md.; and Washington, D.C. McNees is a member of the ALFA International Global Legal Network.
