Irvine’s Knobbe Martens Olson & Bear LLP is making a growth push with the recent hiring of lawyers in Orange County and plans to open an East Coast office.
The firm has hired some 30 lawyers at its Irvine office, who are set to start in the fall, said managing partner Steven Nataupsky.
Knobbe Martens, which ranked No. 2 on the Business Journal’s most recent list of the top law firms here, now will have close to 160 lawyers locally. That puts it in the running with the top local firm, Costa Mesa-based Rutan & Tucker LLP, which counted 147 OC lawyers last year.
A good chunk of the hires had been summer interns with the firm, he said.
It’s also moving forward with plans to open an East Coast office, so it can be closer to clients there and in Europe. It’s narrowed the location down to Washington, D.C., Nataupsky said.
The firm focuses on intellectual property, patent, trademark, copyright and trade secrets law,areas that have helped it carve a niche.
Knobbe Martens considered a New York office but chose Washington, D.C., because it’s close to U.S. Patent and Trademark and Copyright offices, Nataupsky said.
Having a branch near the government offices will boost efficiency for the firm while it’s working on time sensitive cases involving trademark and patent issues, he said.
“It will make things a lot more convenient for everyone,” Nataupsky said. “We have a significant number of clients that are based on the East Coast and opening an office in Washington, D.C., is a logical option for us.”
For more on this story, see the Aug. 20 issue of the Business Journal.
