The prevailing image of the high-powered female litigator often has her giving up on family for a dream job.
That’s not the case at the Los Angeles office of Kirkland & Ellis LLP, where 11 of Kirkland’s 43 female attorneys have had children in the last 12 months. They won’t be getting any flak from the firm’s management, either: 11 of 13 female partners have kids.
Not surprisingly, much of the discussion at the company’s recent winter lunch at the Peninsula focused on the new arrivals. Another hot topic was the fact that the women were able to utilize one of the firm’s best perks relatively liberal maternity leave policies by taking an average of four to six months off.
“The best part about it was my male colleagues,” said partner Juliette Harrhy, who recently took six months off to have her second child. “They encouraged me to take as much time as I needed.”
Harrhy, a member of the corporate practice group, returned to the office Dec. 1. She arrived just in time to get in on Calpine Corp.’s bankruptcy filing. The company was saddled with more than $17 billion in debt, making it one of the biggest cases in U.S. history.
Good Karma
Local law firms have stepped up to aid the victims of Hurricane Katrina.
Latham & Watkins LLP has provided more than $800,000 in legal aid, housing and mental health programs to the Gulf Coast region since the August tragedy.
Shortly after the storm, the firm announced an initial gift of $200,000 and promised to match employee gifts dollar-for-dollar. Latham lawyers and staff drummed up $300,000, which the firm matched.
As part of its gift, Latham provided $75,000 to fund a fellowship to provide legal services for two years. Additionally, the firm will fund a disaster relief fellow to work on the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights.
Manatt Phelps & Phillips LLP, has chipped in, too.
Los Angeles partner Larry Blake led a multi-office pro bono team that worked to line up the rights to a number of musical works that were compiled to create “Hurricane Relief Come Together Now.” The two-disc 35-track compilation features artists including Faith Hill, Coldplay, Louis Armstrong and Bonnie Raitt. It sells for $19.98 and is being distributed through the Recording Industry Association of America on Amazon.com and elsewhere. The net proceeds about $15 per CD go to relief organizations. Additionally, 298 Manatt employees gave more than $96,000 to hurricane relief efforts
Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP gave $100,000 as a firm.
Moving Up
Partners are popping up at Los Angeles law firms like hybrids in our carpool lanes.
Cerritos-based employer services firm Atkinson Andelson Loya Ruud & Romo made partners of Alan G. Atlas, Hugh W. Lee, James Scot Yarnell, John W. Dietrich, Nate J. Kowalski, Michael J. Baker and Michael A. Cable. Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP has elevated two to partners: Derek Havel, in the firm’s labor and employment practice group and Sascha Henry, a member of the business trial practice group. Quateman LLP has named as a partner Tracey M. Ginn, who specializes in corporate transactions, including mergers and acquisitions. Rutter Hobbs & Davidoff Inc. promoted Andrew M. Apfelberg and Baker Keener & Nahra has upped Angela S. Haskins to partner.
Opt Outs
The fallout from the stock shock resulting from the merger of America Online and Time Warner continues.
L.A. firm Lerach Coughlin Stoia Geller Rudman & Robbins LLP is representing about 100 institutional investors, some international, which have opted out of the Time Warner Inc. class action settlement. They are pursuing individual suits to recover losses that they allege are the result of violations of federal and state securities laws in connection with the 2001 merger. The clients estimate their losses at nearly $1.6 billion.
Many of these opt-out clients are pension funds such as Alaska Electrical Pension Fund, Beaver County Retirement Board, Hawaii Laborers Pension Fund and the Plumbers and Pipefitters National Pension Fund.
These California cases are scheduled for trial later this year.
Busy Week
It was a busy week at Greene Broillet & Wheeler LLP.
Founding partner Browne Greene filed suit against the cities of Los Angeles and Burbank and their police departments Wednesday in connection with the fatal shooting of a young Israeli in June of 2004.
The suit alleges civil rights violations, negligence and wrongful death, alleging that Assaf Deri was pulled over in North Hollywood by two plainclothes policemen and mortally shot on the scene.
Two police officers are also named as defendants in the suit, filed on behalf of the victim’s parents. Deri’s father, Pinchas Deri, was visiting from Israel when his son died. He claims that he was wrongfully arrested at his son’s apartment after police broke in and conducted a search.
The suit requests a jury trial and punitive damages, although no amount is specified. The City Attorney’s Office declined to comment due to insufficient time to review the case.
Also on Wednesday, Santa Ana Superior Court Judge Jonathan H. Cannon ordered the consolidation of 50 cases involving problems with the liver transplant program at the University of California, Irvine. Among the suits, which target the Regents of the University of California, are 10 handled by partners Mark T. Quigley and Greene. They are representing six families and four individuals. Individual plaintiffs will seek general and punitive damages at trial.
*Staff reporter Emily Bryson York can be reached at (323) 549-5225, ext. 235, or at
[email protected]
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