When Baker Donelson attorneys in their Princeton office want to take a client to dinner, they walk across the street. When a client wants to swing by the office instead of getting on the phone, they can — and often do.
And when the firm wants to get together as a group in a bonding experience, as they did last summer at the Princeton Art Museum, a multitude of options are available.
Starting today, the office has a go-to leader, as Theodora “Teddy” McCormick officially assumes the role of managing shareholder of their shop at 281 Witherspoon Street, which is in the heart of downtown.
McCormick assumes the role of Anjana Patel, the managing shareholder of the firm’s MetroPark location — and someone who was serving as head of both offices since the initial launch in the spring of 2025.
McCormick, who has worked in Princeton since Day One, is eager to assume a greater role — and loves what the office brings.
“It’s great to be able to meet people face to face,” she said. “That’s been one of the things that I think’s been so great about being in Princeton — it just makes us a lot more accessible to our clients.
“It’s old school.”
Adding more leadership reflects the firm’s growth, which has outpaced what one person could reasonably manage across two locations roughly 40 minutes apart.
Princeton is especially growing. It has added attorneys steadily since its office opened — two or three around the time of its grand opening, McCormick said, with two or three more expected by year’s end, plus two incoming summer associates. The office now has about 30 people between attorneys and staff, a number McCormick expects could reach 50 within two years.
McCormick said the firm already is in talks with its landlord about additional options for adding space. And leaving Princeton isn’t an option.
“We’re very much committed to staying in downtown Princeton,” McCormick said. “We love being in Princeton. It’s a great location. The space is beautiful. We’re very happy there. We just need to be creative and figure out ways to grow there.”
McCormick, a shareholder in Baker Donelson’s Health Law Group, will continue representing companies in the health care, life sciences, dietary supplement and wellness industries while taking on the new leadership role — handling government investigations, FTC and FDA matters, advertising compliance, consumer class actions and business disputes.
Patel said she was delighted that McCormick will have an opportunity to do even more.
“As the Princeton office continues to grow, having a leader based in the office who can be a consistent resource for our attorneys and staff is a natural next step,” she said. “Teddy has been an integral part of our Princeton team from the beginning.”
Patel and McCormick’s history goes back further than Baker Donelson — the two worked together at Sills Cummis & Gross before both moved to Epstein Becker, then to Baker Donelson together when the firm launched its New Jersey offices last year.
McCormick credited Patel’s early groundwork for making Princeton’s current growth possible.
“Anjana deserves tremendous credit for what we have accomplished since Baker Donelson entered the New Jersey market,” McCormick said. “She has led the establishment and growth of both of our New Jersey offices with extraordinary energy, vision and generosity.”
The two offices will continue operating jointly on efforts to build the Baker Donelson brand statewide, even as day-to-day leadership now splits along geographic lines — a structure both attorneys say fits a firm that’s grown faster in New Jersey than anyone initially projected.
Much of Princeton’s next phase of growth, McCormick said, will lean on expanding what the office offers beyond its founding strength in health care litigation. The office has built out real estate and corporate finance capabilities and is pushing to become more of a one-stop shop for clients rather than a specialist referral point.
McCormick, who earned her J.D. from Rutgers Law School, has been listed in Best Lawyers in America for Commercial Litigation since 2016, and made New Jersey Super Lawyers’ “Top 50 Women” list in 2017.
The goal in her new role, she said, is to help other attorneys reach these heights.
McCormick said she will lean on the office’s younger attorneys to help shape the office’s direction going forward.
“This is all about growing the Princeton office and the future of the firm,” she said. “They have a stake in that.”
