PROVIDENCE – Robinson & Cole LLP, a Hartford-based law firm announced today that it has opened a Providence office, to be led by two longtime Rhode Island lawyers as partners in charge of the new office.

The firm hired Patricia J. Igoe and Peter V. Lacouture to run the new office. Both had been with Nixon Peabody LLP for more than a decade.

Robinson & Cole Managing Partner John B. Lynch Jr. said that the new office has been planned for about two years.

“We think the Rhode Island market and Providence, as the capital city, offer really strong opportunities for a firm that’s a regional New England firm,” he said in an interview. “It’s a good place to be – an exciting market in a vibrant, growing city.”

Igoe has practiced in the Rhode Island market for 30 years and had been with Nixon Peabody for 12 years. She joined Robinson & Cole’s Finance Practice Group, specializing in commercial transactions involving banks. Igoe said in an interview last week that she had seen Robinson & Cole’s work first hand.

“They’re a firm that I’ve been on the other side of the table with on a number of different occasions and I’ve always enjoyed working with them on transactional matters,” Igoe said. “They have great people. And when I heard they were going to open an office in Rhode Island, it seemed like a good fit for me at this point in my career to be with more of a regional firm.”

Lacouture has practiced in Rhode Island for 37 years and had been at Nixon Peabody for 14 years. His practice has concentrated on public utility permitting, infrastructure projects, and zoning and land-use issues, he said.

Although the firm has not said how large it intends to grow the Providence office – there are now three lawyers aside from Lacouture and Igoe – the partners both said they want to expand it in the future.

“I wouldn’t say that that’s way down the road because certainly we’re looking to expand in this office,” Igoe said. “I know that the plan of the firm is to expand in this market.”

Based in Hartford, Robinson & Cole LLP is a 164-year-old law firm with offices in Connecticut, New York, Massachusetts, Florida and Rhode Island. For additional information, visit www.rc.com.