Both attorneys joined the firm’s trial, white collar, and investigations practice. Murphy is from Foley Hoag, while Lukey joins from Choate, Hall & Stewart. They’ve always wanted to work together at the same firm. Make room for two more: Longtime friends Joan Lukey and Marty Murphy just joined Manatt’s Boston office. Today, the Boston office has more than 20 professionals.

Manatt has grown quickly in Boston since 2019, when it opened an office here with a team led by Scott Lashway, formerly of Holland & Knight. If you haven’t heard of Los Angeles-based law firm Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, it probably won’t be long until you do. “I just feel like we squandered some decades.” “Maybe I drove the Shepley car at 40 miles per hour and I should have been going at 80 miles per hour,” she said. Her one big professional regret: not pushing harder on environmentally resilient design. She’s proud of the efforts she took while chief executive to improve the firm’s diversity, as well as the relationships that it built up with numerous universities. There will be renovations at the house she shares with her husband in Concord, and more beach days on Plum Island. She plans to continue to mentor younger architects and do some executive coaching. Wedge might no longer be designing school libraries or hospital expansions but she will be busy. “I don’t know there will be more immediately but it’s amazing what opportunities you get led to.” “There are great opportunities in other markets, in cities that are growing,” Wedge said. Part of the motivation, as Wedge tells it, was that there simply wasn’t enough local work to go around for all the architects who work or attend school in Boston. It now has offices in Durham, N.C., Houston, and Phoenix - all opened under her watch - as well as Boston and Hartford. It was important for Wedge that Shepley Bulfinch set its sights on going national.

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