Attorney Rosters Expand 10% at Largest Firms; Rutan & Tucker Again No. 1
Law firms added attorneys faster than Orange County’s overall job growth rate last year, according to the Business Journal list of the county’s law offices.
The largest 50 firms grew their attorney ranks by 10% in 1999, with No. 2 Knobbe, Martens, Olson & Bear beefing up its staff more than any firm on the list, adding 16 attorneys for a total of 107 in OC. Compared with last year’s 50 largest law offices, this year’s firms grew their attorney rosters by 7%. OC’s overall job growth for the year was 3.2%.
The list ranks the largest 50 law firms in OC by their number of attorneys. This year’s list includes 26 OC-based law offices, led by No. 1 Rutan & Tucker, No. 2 Knobbe Martens, and No. 3 Stradling, Yocca, Carlson & Rauth.
The general good health of the economy and the proliferation of high-tech companies in OC appear to be driving much of the law firms’ growth.
“The corporate (practice) is extremely hot,” said Clifford Frieden, managing partner at Costa Mesa-based Rutan & Tucker. The firm has 122 attorneys and, like last year, is No 1 on the list. Frieden said his firm is getting its share of business from the emerging technology companies and he expects that trend to continue this year. In the fall the firm intends to hire about 10 people from its crop of second-year law students who worked in the firm’s summer internship program.
Knobbe Martens hired more attorneys to keep up with demand from the high-tech industry, a spokesman said. Knobbe Martens specializes in intellectual-property law, an important area for new Internet and technology companies.
Dean Zipser, managing partner of No. 8 Morrison & Foerster, also attributed its growth to the booming high-tech industry. Morrison & Foerster grew 13% according to the list, adding six attorneys for a total of 53.
The largest 50 law firms increased their attorney ranks from 1,690 last year to 1,806 this year. The number of OC employees overall went up to 3,904 from 3,729, a 5% hike.
In addition to Knobbe Martens, the biggest gainers on the list were Stradling Yocca, Los Angeles-based Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, adding 15 attorneys each. Los Angeles-based No. 18 Lyon & Lyon expanded its OC office by eight attorneys to a total of 22. Other firms with moderate growth were No. 11 Brobeck, Phleger & Harrison, increasing its number of attorneys from 38 to 47. No. 21 Arter & Hadden, based in Cleveland, moved up the list from No. 28 by adding seven attorneys.
Irvine-based The Busch Firm at No. 48 grew its staff from last year’s nine to 15, for a 67% growth rate, the highest on the list. Rick Weiner, the firm’s president, attributed its increase in staff to the large number of mergers and acquisitions,a big part of its business,and the increase of wealth in OC, which has led to the expansion of its estate planning business.
While 34 of the 50 largest firms grew their attorney numbers in OC, 42 firms added attorneys firm-wide and 33 grew their overall OC employee ranks.
Within the 50 largest firms, eight remained the same size, while eight shrunk their ranks. “We downsized a little bit,” said Bill Lawson, managing attorney Lawson, Macrae, Gress & Culbertson. Its litigation business went way down, he said. The Los Angeles-based firm ranks No. 35 and decreased its OC attorney roster from 23 to 20. Firm-wide, it dropped five attorneys for a total of 40.
Though No. 39 Hollins, Schechter, Feinstein & Condas decreased its staff, president Andy Hollins said it wasn’t on purpose.
“We could get larger if we could find the right people,” he said.
Hollins noted it has been difficult to find attorneys who want to do a lot of heavy litigation, which in his firm has increased.
Those offices that neither lost nor gained attorneys include No. 13 Snell & Wilmer with 39 attorneys and No. 14 Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton with 38 attorneys. n
Faustman Leaves His Firm
to Become Safeway VP
Irvine law firm Faustman, Carlton, DiSante & Freudenberger LLP changed its name as of Jan. 1 to Carlton, DiSante & Freudenberger LLP when partner David Faustman took a position as senior vice president with Safeway Inc. in Pleasanton. The firm also admitted Mark S. Spring to the partnership.
Carlton, DiSante & Freudenberger has 15 attorneys, and has offices in San Diego, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Sacramento. The firm specializes in representing employers in labor and employment law matters.
