Irvine-based Knobbe Martens Olson & Bear LLP is on a roll.
Just three months after opening an office in Washington, D.C., Knobbe Martens has opened a Seattle office, deepening the Orange County law firm’s national footprint.
The firm opted to open an office in Seattle last fall so that it could be closer to clients such as Amazon.com Inc., according to Knobbe Martens Managing Partner Steven Nataupsky.
“We have a few clients there already,” he said. “And having an office in close proximity helps us offer better services to them.”
Four partners will anchor Knobbe Martens’ Seattle office, Nataupsky said.
They include Maria Culic Anderson, Melanie Seelig and Mauricio Uribe, who are coming from Seattle-based Christensen O’Connor Johnson & Kindness PLLC.
Carol Pitzel Cruz from Knobbe’s Irvine office will move to the Seattle office, Nataupsky said.
The Seattle office should have up to 12 people working out of it this year, including partners, associates and additional staff, he said.
The firm could add more lawyers to its Seattle office once it generates more business, Nataupsky said.
Knobbe Martens, which ranked No. 2 on the Business Journal’s January list of top law firms here, focuses on patent, trademark, copyright and trade secrets law,areas that have helped it carve a niche against local rivals such as Costa Mesa-based Rutan & Tucker LLP and Newport Beach’s Stradling Yocca Carlson & Rauth.
The firm is one of the only locally based law firms to have operations outside California, through both its client list of national and international companies and its office locations.
Knobbe Martens has represented clients such as Ranbaxy Pharmaceuticals Inc. of Princeton, N.J., and the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Md. Local clients include Irvine-based Masimo Corp., Foothill Ranch-based Oakley Inc. and Yamaha Motor Co. in Cypress.
The firm is on a growth push.
Last fall, it opened an office in Washington, D.C., so that it could be closer to its clients there and in Europe.
Knobbe Martens considered a New York office but chose to open one in Washington, D.C., because it’s close to U.S. Patent and Trademark and Copyright offices, according to Nataupsky.
Having a branch near the government offices makes the law firm more competitive and efficient when it’s working on time-sensitive cases involving trademark and patent issues, he said.
Knobbe Martens is on track to becoming OC’s biggest law firm.
The firm now has 142 local lawyers in Irvine and 205 firmwide with other offices in San Diego, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Riverside and San Luis Obispo.
On the Way to No. 1
Knobbe Martens recently has hired some 30 lawyers to work in its Irvine office. They are set to start in the fall, Nataupsky said.
Knobbe Martens should have close to 160 attorneys once the new associates start. That could help it bump Rutan & Tucker, which counts about 156 local attorneys, from its longtime title as OC’s largest law firm.
Knobbe Martens credits its growth to the booming intellectual property practice, which the firm expects to continue to hold strong this year.
“When times are tight, people tend to defend their intellectual property more vigorously so that they can guard their market share,” Nataupsky said in an earlier interview.
Mergers and acquisitions growth this year could also boost the firm’s intellectual property practice, he said.
“Companies and private equity firms have cash to spend and they’re investing in smaller companies and their ideas. Whenever there’s a merger or acquisition there needs to be good legal counsel on how to protect intellectual property,” Nataupsky said.
More work could mean more offices down the line, according to Nataupsky.
“As our client base continues to expand, we’ll open additional offices,” he said.
Nataupsky is mum about Knobbe Martens’ next move. He said the firm’s expansion committee is looking at possible offices in the U.S. and abroad.
“It’s possible we will be opening more (offices) but it’s too early to tell,” he said. “We’re continuing to grow and thrive and provide the best services to our clients.” n
