Knobbe Martens Adds 16 First-Year Attorneys
By CHRIS CZIBORR
Newport Beach patent-law firm Knobbe, Martens, Olson & Bear LLP has added 16 new attorneys fresh out of school since the fall, at a time when some law firms have been laying off.
“We are coming off 2001, which is the best year we’ve ever had,” said Knobbe managing partner James Bear. “Our growth rate has been at about 20% a year.”
Bear said the firm is being driven by growth at key clients as well as the addition of new ones. The firm’s foreign patents practice also is helping spur growth, he said.
“We have a growing foreign practice. Europe and Asia are the fastest growing parts of that practice,” Bear said. “But the patent and trademark litigation practice is growing dynamically also.”
Typically, economic slowdowns spawn more litigation over intellectual property.
The writing and overseeing of arguments with the U.S. Patent and Trade-mark Office also is an area of growing work.
“That seems to be an area of steady growth for us with 10% to 12% growth year in and year out,” he said.
Bear said he has been seeing a trend of layoffs in San Diego and Bay area law firms in recent months. The Irvine office of San Francisco-based Brobeck, Phleger & Harrison LLP was hit with a round in January.
But Bear said he didn’t expect most Orange County firms to follow suit.
“Firms that were involved in the dot-coms were hit especially hard,” Bear said.
All of Knobbe’s new associates have degrees in engineering or science. Knobbe, Martens, Olson & Bear now has 102 OC attorneys.
The firm is planning to move from Newport Center to larger quarters in the under-construction second phase of Opus Center Irvine, where it is set to occupy the top six floors. The building across from John Wayne Airport is slated for completion in the third quarter.
