Bragging rights is a big thing among Orange County’s homegrown law firms.
The big three,Costa Mesa’s Rutan & Tucker LLP, Knobbe, Martens, Olson & Bear LLP of Irvine and Stradling, Yocca, Carlson & Rauth of Newport Beach,dominate, not just among homegrown firms, but among all firms here.
Each has more than 100 local lawyers, according to the Business Journal’s annual list of the largest law firms here.
They’re followed by a handful of others that mostly are based in Los Angeles with offices here.
Cracking into the top three isn’t easy,No. 4 and below have at least 25 fewer lawyers than the biggest homegrown players.
As of this year, the county has a new No. 4 homegrown firm, Irvine’s Jackson, DeMarco, Tidus, Peckenpaugh.
In 2005, Jackson, DeMarco passed Walsworth, Franklin, Bevins & McCall LLP of Orange for bragging rights as the largest firm based here after the big three.
Jackson, DeMarco, which does real estate and business law, has 56 lawyers in OC and another dozen or so in Westlake Village. In all, the firm has about 14% more lawyers than it did in 2005.
Among all firms operating here, Jackson, DeMarco ranks No. 8.
The question now is whether Jackson, DeMarco can move its way up through the thicket of L.A. firms in the middle ranks of the top 10. It’s already passed a handful of L.A. firms on the list, including Irell & Manella LLP and Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton LLP.
Standing in its way: the Irvine office of Los Angeles-based Allen, Matkins, Leck, Gamble & Mallory LLP, with the same number of lawyers as Jackson, DeMarco has in OC.
Robert Hamilton, office managing partner for Allen Matkins Leck Gamble & Mallory LLP in Irvine, said his firm has about 60 attorneys in Orange County and isn’t watching in its rearview mirror at Jackson, DeMarco.
“We are sort of just focused on our own firm,” he said. “I see us growing at about 10% a year.”
Jackson, DeMarco has been hiring, adding about a dozen lawyers in the past 12 months. Four have left in the past year with two going to work for clients.
There’s talk of Jackson, DeMarco acquiring a boutique OC firm, something it hasn’t done before.
“It’s not out of the question,” Jackson, DeMarco President Ruth Mijuskovic said. “We are evaluating an opportunity now in Orange County. It would be new for us.”
Four years ago, Jackson, DeMarco moved to 2030 Main St. in Irvine from 4 Park Plaza in Irvine, where it had subleased space from the local office of Los Angeles-based Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP.
Jackson, DeMarco took the 12th floor on Main Street, and then carved out a quarter on the second floor. Earlier this year, it subleased a third of the 15th floor. It has its eyes on another floor.
The challenge for Jackson, DeMarco: the shifting real estate market.
Clients include developers and homebuilders Walnut-based J.F. Shea Co., the local office of Michigan’s Pulte Homes Inc., John Laing Homes and William Lyon Homes Inc., both of Newport Beach, and Standard Pacific Corp. and SunCal Cos., both of Irvine.
“We have not seen any impact on our business yet,” Mijuskovic said of the turning housing market. “Of course, we’re monitoring the situation closely.”
There’s still legal work in a real estate downturn, she said. Projects and partnerships undergo financial restructuring and entitlement work continues, according to Mijuskovic.
The ups and downs of real estate is one reason the firm decided five years ago to diversify into litigation, patent and employment law practices.
Other clients include Regency Outdoor Advertising Inc., BE Aerospace Inc., Impac Mortgage Holdings Inc., Donald Trump and U.S. Storage Center.
Mijuskovic, the only woman to lead a top 10 law office here, got a late start on her career.
In her 30s with two kids, Mijuskovic got her degree from Southern Illinois University’s School of Law in Carbondale, where her husband was a philosophy professor.
It was her turn: Earlier her husband got advanced degrees in philosophy, literature and social work, to name a few.
After school, Mijuskovic clerked with Judge Harlington Wood Jr. of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit in Chicago. She then moved to San Diego to work for Luce, Forward, Hamilton & Scripps LLP, one of city’s oldest and largest firms.
She left law for a while to help run a small engineering company,a former law client that audited companies providing test equipment on military projects.
In the past two decades, Mijuskovic worked at a few law firms, including two stints with Jackson, DeMarco,the last time she rejoined in early 2003.
She became president soon after and started work on diversifying the firm.
Mijuskovic’s handled mergers and acquisitions, specializing in emerging medical and technology companies, and has done general corporate work.
There’s change brewing at the top of Jackson, DeMarco.
Two founding partners, James DeMarco and Thomas Peckenpaugh, are in varying stages of slowing down their involvement in daily operations.
DeMarco, who specializes in construction, commercial, business, banking and real estate litigation, is semi-retired.
Peckenpaugh, who has handled real estate acquisitions, sales, construction, development contracts, sales, financing and leasing, has indicated he’ll being doing less, according to Mijuskovic.
Mijuskovic, a 63-year-old Corona del Mar resident, said she plans to work until 70, “God willing.”
“It’s not in my nature to slow down,” she said.
Another name partner, Michael Tidus, is the baby of the group at 45. He is the founding chairman of Jackson, DeMarco’s land use and natural resources group and a member of the firm’s executive committee.
