Eli Wynkoop, former senior counsel for NOVA Chemicals who recently was brought on by Metz Lewis Brodman Must O’Keefe in Pittsburgh, said one of his primary concerns about joining the 45-lawyer middle-market firm was his lack of a book of business.

But in an interview last week, Wynkoop said he was assured by the firm’s partners they were looking for a candidate with qualifications to handle the high volume of M&A work in the firm’s corporate department, not necessarily someone who would add to the existing glut of client engagements.