Miami-based Greenberg Traurig LLP is the latest to grow its Orange County office by bringing on lawyers lured from another firm.
Greenberg recently brought on Bruce Fischer and Scott Morehouse and eight associates, paralegals and assistants to expand the real estate practice at its Irvine office.
Fischer and Morehouse came from the Los Angeles office of Philadelphia-based Morgan, Lewis and Bockius LLP.
Their arrival is part of a trend of lateral hiring, a sign that the nascent economic recovery is taking hold and playing out at law firms.
“What we have been doing is cherry picking areas that we want to either expand in or want to be able to build on,” said Ski Harrison, managing partner at Costa Mesa-based Rutan & Tucker LLP.
Lateral hires are a way for firms to move quickly to pick up business in an area they see is growing.
“We’re not looking for someone to start as a first-year and begin learning,” Harrison said. “We’re looking for somebody with eight to 10 years of experience in the area because we want them to immediately start servicing clients.”
Law firms check out lateral candidates through a variety of methods, said Bill O’Hare, administrative partner at the Costa Mesa office of Phoenix-based Snell & Wilmer LLP.
“We are actively working with colleagues who know of people, legal recruiters able to identify individuals or groups and even a recent deluge of resumes,” he said.
In some cases, firms size up lateral candidates while working against them.
“(With) one of our laterals—we were actually on the opposite side of him on some stuff,” Rutan’s Harrison said. “That’s one of the best ways to discover who is good, by seeing them in action.”
Some lateral candidates could be looking to leave firms that have been weakened in the downturn.
“There are a lot of individuals or groups that have strong practices and are looking for other stable alternatives for their clients,” Snell’s O’Hare said.
At Greenberg, recent hire Fischer is heading the firm’s local real estate group, where a recent increase in deals has been keeping lawyers busy.
Fischer works with real estate funds and investment trusts on buying and financing real estate.
Recent arrival Morehouse represents pension funds, banks and other institutional clients on financing, purchases, disposition and development and leasing of real estate around the country.
“It is significant to add a core group of lawyers in Southern California that are highly qualified and capable of handling complex real estate and financial transactions,” said Rob Ivanhoe, chair of Greenberg’s global real estate practice. “This addition is consistent with the firm’s global real estate practice and a great value to our California presence.”
A pick up in lateral hires has taken a toll on newly minted lawyers. Firms have scaled back first-year associate hiring or eliminated first-year classes altogether, according to Brian Goodman, senior practice leader for the legal and regulatory practice at Resources Connection Inc. in Costa Mesa.
One exception: Irvine-based Knobbe Martens Olson & Bear LLP, the largest law firm in the county with 165 local lawyers here and more than 275 overall, up from 258 last fall.
Knobbe Martens is adding younger lawyers with special qualifications and clear career paths for its specialty patent, trademark and copyright work. Many hold advanced doctorate or medical degrees in addition to their law degrees.
“Almost all of our people are engineers before they start here as lawyers,” Managing Partner Steve Nataupsky said.
The firm has hired 28 associates across its OC, San Diego, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle and Washington, D.C., offices in the past 18 months. Nearly half went to the Irvine office, where clients include local medical device makers, software makers and biotechnology companies.
Clients include Irvine-based Masimo Corp., a maker of patient monitors and other devices; Princeton, N.J.-based Ranbaxy Pharmaceuticals Inc., part of India’s Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd.; and Irvine’s Toshiba America Information Systems Inc., part of Japan’s Toshiba Corp.
“Our model is somewhat different from other large firms,” Nataupsky said. “The attorneys we hire are easier to teach our value system than someone starting without a fresh slate.”
