Jackson DeMarco Tidus & Peckenpaugh in Irvine has taken on nearly all of Newport Beach’s Castle, Petersen & Krause LLP in a move that stands to boost its ranking among law firms here.
Castle, Petersen & Krause’s three name partners and 10 other lawyers have joined Jackson DeMarco, according to Ruth Mijuskovic, president of Jackson DeMarco.
In all, 37 people from Castle Petersen have joined, she said.
Jackson DeMarco was the No. 8 law firm operating in Orange County by lawyers, according to the Business Journal’s January list.
It’s the fourth largest firm based here after Costa Mesa’s Rutan & Tucker LLP, Knobbe Martens Olson & Bear LLP of Irvine and Stradling Yocca Carlson & Rauth of Newport Beach.
Adding Castle, Petersen & Krause could leapfrog Jackson DeMarco over the local offices of some Los Angeles firms to the No. 6 spot on our next list.
The firm now has 70 lawyers in its Irvine headquarters and 11 in Westlake Village.
Most of Castle, Petersen & Krause’s people have settled into Jackson DeMarco’s 34,000-square-foot office near John Wayne Airport.
“Later on this year, we’re going to take additional space in the building to accommodate our growth,” Mijuskovic said.
The firm is adding 11,000 square feet of space in its building, she said.
Lawyers from both firms have known each other for years, according to Mijuskovic. They started seriously talking about combining last year, she said.
Gregory Petersen of Castle, Petersen & Krause has joined as a shareholder and name partner at what’s now Jackson DeMarco Tidus Petersen & Peckenpaugh.
He’s set to chair the firm’s complex litigation group.
Richard Castle and Robert Krause, the old firm’s other name partners, joined Jackson DeMarco as partners.
“It’s a really good move, and, like anything else, it takes a while to adjust,” Petersen said. “There were a couple of attorneys who didn’t come, and it’s regrettable that they didn’t. But a majority of the staff came.”
Petersen, known for his plaintiff work in labor cases, said he’s adapting to Jackson DeMarco, which does mostly defense work.
“I do a lot of both, defense and plaintiff. I love trial work. It’s what I like to do,” he said.
Jackson DeMarco’s plans for growth appealed to Petersen, he said.
“The little boutique has joined the bigger firm,” he said. “(Jackson DeMarco) wants to grow and it wants to be dynamic.”
Jackson DeMarco specializes in real estate, business, taxes, employment, immigration and intellectual property law.
The firm plans to recruit more lawyers for its real estate work, Mijuskovic said.
“Real estate and all other related areas like land use and subdivision have really been keeping us busy,” she said. “We expect to continue to grow because of all of the work that we have.”
The firm hasn’t seen a slowdown yet with the shifting housing market, according to Mijuskovic.
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.
The addition of labor and litigation work from Castle, Petersen & Krause could help offset the cyclical nature of the firm’s real estate practice, Mijuskovic said.
For now, Jackson DeMarco is “letting the dust settle for a bit” before adding more lawyers, she said.
“But we know we will be adding new attorneys, although we haven’t settled on a number yet,” Mijuskovic said.
Jackson DeMarco plans to recruit from other firms and hire some recent law school graduates, she said.
