By Casey Sullivan 

Feb 20 (Reuters) - The 345-lawyer San Francisco business and litigation law firm Sedgwick is expected to acquire the Oakland boutique Brown Eassa & McLeod on March 1, Sedgwick announced on Tuesday.

Brown Eassa is a civil defense firm with practices in mass tort, product liability, labor and employment and commercial litigation, and has 20 lawyers.

The firm was founded in 1999 by Eugene Brown, Bob Eassa and Bruce McLeod. It's clients have included Chrysler Group, Chevron U.S.A. and Valero Energy Corporation, according to the firm's website.

Brown Eassa partner Bob Eassa said the move was prompted by an overload of commercial litigation and toxic tort cases in Texas, where the boutique does not have an outpost, but where Sedgwick has offices in Austin, Dallas and Houston.

Eassa, who has defended a number of wrongful termination and discrimination lawsuits against clients like Chevron USA, Longs Drugs Stores California and Ablestik Laboratories, said he will co-chair Sedgwick's labor and employment practice.

Brown Eassa partner Philip Cosgrove, who focuses on product liability and toxic tort cases, will work out of Sedgwick's Los Angeles office along with an associate, according to a release. The rest of the Brown Eassa lawyers will be based in San Francisco office, where Sedgwick has more than 130 lawyers, the release said.

A spokeswoman and chairman for Sedgwick did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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