The Towson law firm Hodes, Ulman, Pessin & Katz has lost a partner and had a name change.

With the recent departure of partner Louis Ulman, the firm has officially become Hodes, Pessin & Katz.

"After 15 years with us, Lou has decided to move on to greener pastures," said founding partner Michael Hodes. "It's not every day that a name person (in a firm) moves on."

Hodes started the practice in Towson in 1988 as a one-man operation called Michael Hodes PA. Today, the firm has nearly 50 attorneys working from offices in Towson, Columbia, Bel Air, Bethesda and Cambridge.

Hodes said that with Ulman's departure, the law required the name of the firm to change.

"Unless a partner either dies or retires, you have to change the name," Hodes said.

"It's very amicable," Hodes said of Ulman's departure. "Lou is one of my closest friends. We were partners at another firm for many years before I started this firm. We have had a very great relationship forever."

On March 2, Ulman, a Howard County resident, became a senior partner in the Howard County offices of Offit Kurman, a firm with offices in Baltimore County, Howard County, Montgomery County, Harford County and Philadelphia.

Ulman, who specializes in estate planning, elder law and asset protection, said he left Hodes, Ulman, Pessin & Katz on friendly terms. He said he wanted to practice law in a larger firm where he could draw the individual areas of expertise of a larger staff of attorneys.

Ulman also cited his own roots and family ties to Howard County as a reason for the change. His son, attorney Ken Ulman, is county executive in Howard County.

"It was very difficult to practice in a small satellite office, and I wanted to be in a bigger office," he said. "We have 25 attorneys here," he said of Offit Kurman's Howard County office."

Even though the Hodes, Ulman, Pessin & Katz moniker has become ingrained in the public imagination through effective marketing, Hodes said, this is just the latest in a string of name changes his firm has undergone as it has expanded from one attorney to nearly 50.

"It seems to happen every January," he said. "Nothing has really changed except our name."