The Omaha law firm of Berens & Tate is being acquired by Jackson Lewis of White Plains, N.Y., bringing the management oriented employment law firm to 552 lawyers and 41 offices nationally.

The nine-attorney Omaha office will change its name April 1, said Kelly Berens, who founded the firm in 1979. He will be an equity partner at Jackson Lewis and manage the Omaha office.

Also joining the firm will be partners Joe Dreesen, Chris Hoyme, Tim Loudon and Chad Richter and associates Ross Gardner, Michael Mortensen, Jill Poole and Ken Wentz. Terms were not disclosed.

Berens & Tate has clients across the country and now will be able to serve those clients with local offices and expanded expertise, Berens said. The 10050 Regency Circle office in Omaha will be the only Jackson Lewis office between Chicago, Minneapolis, Denver and Dallas.

"We can now be all things in the labor and employment world for all of our clients," Berens said, and both law firms share common goals for their clients. "In areas where we only need specialists twice a year, we've got it."

Jackson Lewis was founded in 1958 and represents management in workplace law, including affirmative action, disability, benefits, privacy, compensation, immigration, trade secrets and other areas of employment law.