Century City-based Irell & Manella LLP now is one of two major law firms to have a woman head their local offices.
Andra Greene has been tapped to replace former managing partner Richard Sherman as head of Irell’s Newport Beach office.
Sherman stepped down after heading the office for six years,the maximum term to head an Irell office.
Greene, the first female managing partner to head an Irell office, specializes in complex business litigation and intellectual property.
She becomes the third woman to run a law office in Orange County. Ruth Mijuskovic of Irvine-based Jackson DeMarco Tidus Peckenpaugh and Ellen Marshall of Manatt Phelps & Phillips LLP are the others.
“There’s no reason why a woman shouldn’t be able to head an office,” Greene said. “My firm has confidence in me. I view this as one more thing I can do.”
Greene will serve in the position for three years, Irell’s minimum term requirement. After that, Irell’s executive committee will decide whether she can serve another three years.
Greene, a native of Highland Park near Chicago, doesn’t have law in her blood. Her father owned a women’s boutique. Her mother was a stay-at-home wife.
After graduating from Harvard Law School, Greene said she thought she would become a federal prosecutor. But a hiring freeze in the U.S. Attorney’s Office during the 1980s pushed her to find work in corporate law. Greene first practiced in Washington, D.C. She joined Irell’s Newport Beach office in 1986 and has been with the firm since.
“I realized that representing Corporate America wasn’t so bad,” she said.
She will oversee business development and hiring as well as continue to work on patent and trademark cases and business litigation.
Irell’s practice areas include bankruptcies and restructurings, intellectual property, mergers and acquisitions, securities compliance and litigation, real estate and white-collar criminal defense.
The firm ranked No. 13 on the Business Journal’s list of top 50 law firms in January.
Greene said she has big shoes to fill following Sherman.
“We enjoyed success in client representation and growth under him and I want to continue in that path,” she said.
She hopes to attract more local clients and hire more lawyers, especially at the associate level.
Irell counts 50 lawyers and another 50 employees in OC.
The firm recently hired five associate lawyers who are set to start working this fall. Irell wants to groom its new associates to become partners.
“Bringing in new associates allows you to take on more matters and develop lawyers who will hopefully mature and grow with the firm,” she said.
Irell could also look to recruit lawyers at the partner level, Greene said.
For now, there’s no set number on how many associates and partners Irell plans to bring in this year.
Despite a slower economy,spurred by a down real estate market and tight credit market,Irell is betting on an upswing of lawsuits to boost business this year, Greene said.
“What I’ve found is that litigation tends to be busy during good times and bad but especially when there are signs of a slowdown in the economy,” Greene said.
Bankruptcy work should be a hot area for the firm, she said.
Irell plans to also help clients restructure their businesses and contracts, according to Greene.
As for local competition, Irell primarily vies with three OC-based firms: Costa Mesa-based Rutan & Tucker LLP, Irvine’s Knobbe Martens Olson & Bear LLP and Stradling Yocca Carlson & Rauth in Newport Beach.
A handful of national and global law firms with offices here are rivals, including Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP in Irvine, Latham & Watkins LLP in Costa Mesa, Newport Beach’s O’Melveny & Myers and others.
