Constangy, Brooks & Smith law firm adds Kansas City attorney to name

Constangy, Brooks & Smith, a national law firm with 150 attorneys in more than two dozen locations in 16 states, has hired a Kansas City attorney as a partner and changed the firm’s name to Constangy, Brooks, Smith & Prophete.

The Atlanta-based firm said Tuesday that the hiring of Don Prophete, an African-American lawyer who has served in an advisory role for the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, and the addition of his name to the firm’s title reflect its commitment to diversity.

Prophete will continue to work in Kansas City.

Before joining Constangy, Prophete worked at Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart; at Armstrong Teasdale and at Sprint.

The Constangy firm specializes in representing employers in workplace-related law.

The ABA Journal recently reported that only 3 percent of lawyers at 223 large U.S. law firms are African-American and only 1.9 percent of the firm partners are African-American.

Constangy also announced that 11 other attorneys have joined the firm and it is adding offices in Denver and New York.

Constangy’s Kansas City office also announced the hiring of Nikki Howell and Nicholas Walker, both previously at Littler Mendelson.

This story was originally published March 3, 2015 at 11:58 AM with the headline "Constangy, Brooks & Smith law firm adds Kansas City attorney to name."