The Insider hears that Roy, Utah-based Iomega Corp. is looking to relocate to the “Orange County area” Democrat-oriented Manatt, Phelps & Phillips has some big plans for its beachhead in Republican-dominated Orange County. The LA-based law firm is taking 10,000 square feet of prime space on the 12th floor of Center Tower in Costa Mesa, double or triple what it needs for its startup staff of seven lawyers. Moreover, said managing partner Paul Irving, “The lease provides multiple options to expand, and we project substantial growth there by mid-2002.” Manatt’s OC clients include Downey Financial, Comerica, Boeing, AES Huntington Beach and the OC Fire Authority. As earlier reported by the OCBJ, Manatt’s recruits include local GOP talent Scott Baugh and Christine Diemer Iger One of OC’s best star-gazing spots is Kim Bryant’s Coyote Grill on PCH in South Laguna, frequented by Whoopi Goldberg, Heather Locklear and other celebs. The Aug. 6 Us Magazine said Dustin Hoffman walked into the restaurant but left because it was too crowded..
….The Insider bets that Curt Lyon’s summer vacation was more exciting than yours. Despite the urging of friends that he call it off, Balboa Peninsula-based video producer Lyon, along with wife Wendy and teenage kids Lauren and Blake, recently went on a 2 1/2 week photo safari through untamed southern Africa. They arrived at a remote camp in Botswana just as attendants were carrying away the body of an elderly tourist; the man had suffered an aneurysm and died before medical help could arrive. On the last day of their trip, a lion broke into the kitchen shanty and ate their cook. In between, the Lyons encountered venomous puff adders, spitting mambas and black cobras; rode in open-air Land Rovers alongside prides of lions and herds of rhinos and elephants; and slept in tents as beasts roamed only feet away. “I coined a term, adrenaline poisoning,” Lyon said. “Every day there was something that freaked you out.” But danger went beyond the wilds to civilization. Political instability has devastated tourism: Lyon said his family were the only visitors on some legs of the trip, designed to accommodate up to 36. One night their lodge in Zimbabwe was visited by a traumatized couple who had just been notified that their fourth-generation farm was being confiscated. “We really got an eyeful and earful. We’d spend days with white guys and hear their point of view, then spend time with black guys and get their point of view.” Lyon described the trip as “amazing,” but given the social turmoil, “I wouldn’t go back for awhile.”
