The Irvine office of the law firm of Arter & Hadden is hoping to lure Orange County dot-coms and high-tech startups with its new recruit, former Interplay Entertainment president, Chris Kilpatrick. He will head up the firm’s new Technology Company Practice and Advisory Group.
“Chris represents a strategic acquisition,” said Steve LaCount, a partner at Arter & Hadden.
Kilpatrick, who helped take the Irvine computer-game maker public, was its president from 1995 to 1999. Prior to that, Interplay was his client, when Kilpatrick was an attorney. He was with Stradling, Yocca, Carlson & Rauth for 12 years and was named a partner there in 1989.
“There are a lot of attorneys who end up running companies,” Kilpatrick said.
It’s all a question of balancing risk, and legal risk is part of that, he said.
The firm is betting Kilpatrick’s experience at Interplay will help him not only assess the legal risk for his high-tech clients but also boost the firm’s high-tech IPO business. Arter & Hadden already advises in the corporate arena, including on intellectual-property matters, but it has taken few companies public, LaCount said. Kilpatrick’s job will be to find and service high-tech startups.
Why high-tech?
“It’s sexy,” Kilpatrick said. “They’re interesting companies to be around.”
They also have money and a broad span of legal needs, LaCount said. Going public is not cheap. Attorney’s fees for companies filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission range from $250,000 to $750,000.
But Arter & Hadden will creatively finance those companies if necessary, including taking equity stakes in its clients.
“We’ve been given a lot of flexibility to develop policies,” LaCount said.
Acquiring Kilpatrick is not the only change at Arter & Hadden. The firm has been growing its staff,it’s up from seven attorneys in 1995 to 30,and has expanded its 10th-floor office at the Jamboree Center. A new managing partner, Mark Palin was named a few months ago.
Randy Katz, former managing partner of Arter & Hadden, is now practicing at the Irvine office of Bryan Cave.
The objective of the all the moving and shaking going on at the firm: to be on the short list of corporate and securities law firms, LaCount said. n
