Executive Summary
Need a lawyer? Los Angeles is the right place to look.
L.A. County has more lawyers by far than any other county in California in fact, it has three times the number of the next biggest county for lawyers, San Francisco. And if the top 50 firms in L.A. are any indicator, the local ranks are swelling; combined, these firms added 247 new attorneys to their payrolls last year.
Although several law firms have moved from downtown to the Westside in recent years, the biggest concentration of firms remains in the central city. In fact, 17 of the 25 biggest firms in the county make their headquarters downtown; the rest are in Century City and other parts of the Westside.
Two firms enjoying major growth last year were Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom and Buchalter, Nemer, Fields & Younger each added 15 attorneys in 1999. The growth at Skadden, Arps came about because of an increase in business, while most of Buchalter, Nemer’s growth came after it absorbed Katz, Hoyt, Seigal & Kapor.
The Pacesetter
O’Melveny & Myers LLP
When it comes to L.A. law firms, the county’s oldest also happens to be its biggest O’Melveny & Myers, with 378 attorneys based here.
The firm added two high-profile partners to its roster last year: Ron Klain, former chief of staff for Vice President Al Gore, and Walter Dellinger, formerly solicitor general to the U.S. They join a firm whose partners have a long history of involvement at the top levels of government, including senior partner Warren Christopher, former U.S. secretary of state.
O’Melveny & Myers opened two new offices in the U.S. last year, one in Orange County and the other in McLean, Va. The latter is focused on the growing technology market there, led by America Online. Other high-profile clients include the International Olympic Committee and Wen Ho Lee, the accused spy at Los Alamos Labs in New Mexico.
The firm is playing the role of defendant in a widely reported lawsuit filed by the Los Angeles Unified School District. Officials accuse the firm of negligence for allegedly providing the school district with bad advice on construction of the $200 million Belmont Learning Complex, a contaminated site. The Belmont project subsequently has been abandoned by the LAUSD.
