Howrey Simon Expanding Securities Practice
By RAJIV VYAS
Washington, D.C.- based Howrey Simon Arnold & White LLP plans to expand its securities litigation practice from a base in Orange County.
“Our objective is to substantially increase the amount of securities litigation we do here in California and nationwide,” said Robert Gooding, a partner at the law firm who works from its Irvine office and heads up Howrey’s securities practice. “We want to achieve more of a critical mass in this area.”
Gooding is overseeing hiring and direction for the firm’s securities push. Five Howrey lawyers specialize in securities litigation in OC, with another 10 to 12 spread among the firm’s other offices. Howrey has around 500 lawyers in six U.S. offices and one in London.
The firm plans to add two to three lawyers to its offices in Irvine and Los Angeles in coming months, Gooding said. Howrey also expects to add people in Washington.
Howrey represents companies and their officers and directors in class-action suits, shareholder derivative actions and also Securities and Exchange Commission investigations.
The firm saw a 19-fold increase in its securities litigation practice in 2001, the first year that Howrey had focused on the area, according to Gooding. The firm has represented outside directors of Enron Corp. in connection with congressional, SEC and grand jury proceedings.
Gooding with others from the OC and Los Angeles offices also represent L90 Inc., a Los Angeles-based Internet advertising company, in an SEC probe. Gooding also represents directors of El Paso Corp. in a shareholder derivative action filed in OC stemming from the state’s energy crisis.
In addition, Gooding represented Bear Stearns Companies Inc. in a class action case filed in Orange County related to a secondary stock offering by Tustin-based Quality Systems Inc. several years ago.
