The largest law firms in Orange County picked up their pace in hiring in the past year.
The rate of bringing new partners and associates into Orange County offices in 2011 nearly doubled that of the previous year.
The 51 largest firms here combined for a 2.7% boost in their numbers, for a total of 2,115 attorneys. That’s 56 more than a year ago.
The growth follows a 1.5% uptick a year earlier and a 4.3% decline in 2009.
Firms found stable business flow in practice areas that served well in a weak economy, such as litigation, labor and employment, and intellectual property.
More than half of the firms on the list increased headcount in their OC offices, as 28 firms together added 103 new attorneys here. A total of 13 firms saw their numbers drop, and 10 firms retained their numbers.
Two were newcomers this year, and three fell off the list. The top eight firms remained unchanged, while a few jumps occurred lower on the list.
The Irvine office of Chicago-based McDermott Will & Emery LLP led the overall growth locally. It saw double-digit growth, bringing on 16 attorneys for a total of 46.
The addition helped McDermott jump 12 spots on the list to No. 13. The firm now has 104 employees total in the OC firm, after a 68% increase.
Knobbe Abides
Irvine-based Knobbe Martens Olson & Bear LLP kept the No. 1 seat, with 163 lawyers this year, an increase of nine.
The firm solely engages in intellectual property work, including patents and trademarks, as well as litigation. The firm now has eight offices after opening a new one in Silicon Valley in September.
No. 2 Rutan & Tucker LLP had 146 lawyers in its headquarters in Costa Mesa, up from last year’s 140.
No. 4 Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP was one of the top eight firms that saw a drop in their numbers. Gibson Dunn saw eight fewer attorneys in its Irvine office over the past year, while the firm-wide numbers stayed the same.
The Costa Mesa office of No. 5 Los Angeles-based Latham & Watkins LLP now counts 70 attorneys, down by seven.
“We had two retirements in the past year,” said Cary Hyden, a partner at the Costa Mesa office. “We also have seven new lawyers who have just joined us over the last several weeks.”
The recent addition was not reflected in the 2011 numbers.
Latham has seen several practice areas carrying the growth of the firm last year, including the corporate transactions side.
“We continue to see greater market share here,” Hyden said.
He counts recent deals including the $6.8 billion Beckman Coulter Inc. sale to Danaher Corp. in February, the $600 million sale of Costa Mesa-based Volcom Inc. to Paris-based PPR in May, and Irvine-based Tilly’s Inc. IPO debut in July.
“The environmental practice also has been extremely busy last year relating to energy-related matters,” said Charles Ruck, a partner in the OC office.
Phoenix-based No. 6 Snell & Wilmer LLP in Costa Mesa has 67 attorneys, a 5% increase. That was in line with the 6% firm-wide increase for a total of 431 attorneys.
Outpaced Estimates
“Like many firms, we were conservative in estimating the number of law students needed to fill our summer associate program,” said William O’Hare, administrative partner at the Orange County office. “As it turned out, this year we were able to extend offers to all of our summer associates and hire another six associates to support both our litigation and transactional practice groups.”
The economy has been a boon to the appellate lawyers at Snell & Wilmer.
“During times of economic stress, individuals and institutions who find themselves on the receiving end of a substantial adverse judgment often choose to challenge it rather than settle it,” said Mary-Christine Sungaila, a partner at the OC office. “That leads to an increase in civil appeals.”
Other smaller firms saw some shuffling around in the ranks.
No. 27 Fisher & Phillips LLP saw a 6% decrease in its numbers and now has 30 local attorneys, dropping two spots from last year’s list.
Fisher’s Irvine office is the second biggest, next to its Atlanta headquarters.
“In 2011, we spun off the Los Angeles office with three of our attorneys from the Irvine office,” said James McDonald, managing partner of the Irvine office.
The Los Angeles office has five attorneys.
“We also added a large office in Cleveland,” McDonald said. “And we just added offices in Boston and Memphis. Nationally we’re in growth mode.”
Fisher & Phillips is focused on labor and employment law.
The firm shifts gears according to the movement of economic trends.
“In a down economy, more people who lose their jobs tend to sue than in a strong economy. There tend to be more employee disputes,” McDonald said. “In a stronger economy, we would do more trade-secret work and advise companies facing union organization drives.”
Big Get Bigger
OC’s biggest firms combined to add 69 partners over the past year, an 8% growth.
No. 3 Stradling Yocca Carlson & Rauth of Newport Beach led the growth in the number of partners by adding 17 to the existing 28.
That helped the firm’s OC office reach 89 attorneys total, up from a year-ago count of 85.
No. 19 AlvaradoSmith in Santa Ana added 10 partners over the same time, for a total of 23. The firm counts 39 local attorneys total, including the partners.
Jones & Mayer in Fullerton was a newcomer to the list, at No. 34.
The firm has 28 attorneys across two offices. The OC office houses 27 of them.
Newport Beach-based Cummins & White LLP has 20 lawyers here, up by three.
Irvine-based firms that dropped off from the list include Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe, Burkhalter Kessler Clement & George LLP and Callahan Thompson Sherman & Caudill LLP. All three firms shed OC attorneys in the past year.
