The firm that is now Panitch Schwarze Belisario & Nadel has its roots in the former firm Panitch Schwarze Jacobs & Nadel, which was founded as an intellectual property boutique in 1983 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  That firm merged into Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld in 1999 and then was amicably spun back out as Panitch Schwarze Belisario & Nadel nine years later, which was officially established on January 1, 2008.  Thus, although the name has changed through the years, many of the practitioners at the firm have been practicing together for decades.