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Tim Lappen says that he’d call himself a concierge if it didn’t have the ring of the hospitality industry to it. His real title is chairman of the family office group at the law firm Jeffer Mangels Butler & Marmaro, though there actually is a bit of concierge in what Lappen does which is just about anything for his clients, most of whom are worth hundreds of millions of dollars. Whether researching the history of French paintings, acquiring a rare million-dollar sports car, arranging a Sunday funeral in one day or just providing high-end legal services, he’s the man. Lappen has a broad range of skills, similar to the pocketknife he carries everywhere with its array of tools. He and his wife, Gail, have a daughter, five sons and three motorcycles. An ardent handyman, he’s just built a workshop and he can’t wait to have the time to use it.



Question: Your job seems much different than a typical attorney’s. Do you really see yourself as a lawyer?


Answer:

I’m definitely a lawyer. You still consider a goalie a soccer player, right? In practice, I can see where my job ventures off the beaten track. Basically, I locate, research and finalize just about anything a client could want.



Q: How did you get into this field?


A:

I started out at a large law firm in San Francisco. I went to undergrad at Berkeley and wanted to live in the Bay Area. I worked there for a couple of years, doing basic, right-out-of law-school tasks. I liked it a lot, but my brother was a criminal defense attorney and wanted to start a practice in our hometown of L.A. I always enjoyed working with him, so we did it.



Q: How long did that last?


A:

About eight years. We helped just about anyone who walked in the door. That gave me a broad range of experience, but also left me a little unsatisfied. The thing I liked the most about being an entrepreneur was being able to help so many different people. But it became frustrating; it required experience and expertise I didn’t have or have access to. I decided to leave our firm, which my brother still runs.



Q: So how did you get your current specialty?


A:

When I started at Jeffer Mangels there wasn’t a family practice office. My specialties were in business law and real estate and those were the main areas where high-net worth people needed assistance, so I decided to start the family office group about four years ago because there was a strong need for it in the firm and it fit perfectly with what I was interested in.



Q: What are some of the strangest things you’ve been asked to get?


A:

I recently negotiated the sale of several famous French paintings. When it comes to something like that, where million of dollars are being spent, there are a lot of aspects of the purchase that need to be looked into. For instance, the buyer wanted to make sure that the painting had never been stolen. That may sound easy, but think about it. It’s easy to prove that a painting has been stolen; but to prove that it has never been stolen is a little more difficult, especially with something hundreds of years old.



Q: What was that concern based upon?


A:

The biggest fear of the buyer was that the painting would be found to have been stolen by the Nazis.



Q: How did you resolve that?


A:

I contacted an auction house and I was referred to the Lost Art Registry. After a lot of digging, I was confident that the painting’s history was secure. There’s a lot of money at stake with these types of transactions, so there’s no going back and saying, “Oops, I guess I forgot to check into that.” Besides, the Nazis kept immaculate records of what they stole, so they made it a little easier.



Q: Earlier this year you helped a client buy a rare Bugatti sports car. Was being a car buff helpful?


A:

Sometimes it’s tougher when you have a lot of knowledge about a certain subject because then it is easy to assume you know what you’re doing, and that can lead to big problems. When you’re unfamiliar with something, you normally approach it very cautiously and look at every aspect. But I will admit that one of the perks of researching the Bugatti Veyron was actually getting to drive it. Learning the ins and outs of buying such an exotic car was extremely fascinating.


Q: What do you mean?


A:

The tax and registration alone was the price of a brand new Porsche Carerra. I’ve owned a few Ferraris, BMWs and other really fast and exotic cars, but I had no idea how much was involved in purchasing a car like this. I never told the client this, but I would’ve gladly done all that work for free after he let me drive the car around town for a couple of days.



Q: So you love driving fast. Is that why you have three motorcycles?


A:

I love motorcycles for the same reasons I love cars. Going fast is fun but I love the visceral part of riding more than the rush of going fast. I use my brain all day so when I have the chance to just get out and ride it really puts me at ease and is a nice yin to the yang of work. I also love the mechanical aspect of motorcycles I’ve always been interested in how things work. I have a 1978 Triumph Bonneville which I bought in 1981 right when I got out of law school, and I love tinkering with it. But there’s nothing like riding it.



Q: Is there anything in your upbringing that helped you get on this path?


A:

I come from good stock. Just about everyone in my immediate family are attorneys. I remember being on a trip with my father while he was working as counsel for Columbia Pictures. We went to London and saw the filming of “Oliver” and I was young, but I saw how my father interacted with his clients. That was when I learned that understanding your clients’ needs was the most important aspect of being a good lawyer. Legal knowledge is very important, but there are thousands of attorneys out there with extensive knowledge of specific areas of the law. Being a specialist in forming relationships and being accessible to your clients is utterly important. I saw how just my dad’s presence there put people at ease.



Q: What would you say is the most crucial aspect of what you do?


A:

Being responsive, without question. In the family office practice here, we do just about whatever our clients ask us to, but being responsive is so easy and so crucial it is often overlooked. My first client here was an extremely wealthy individual who was having trouble with the contractor working on his house. He called his lawyer repeatedly but heard nothing, so he called me and he’s been a client ever since. Most of the issues I deal with are not matters of life or death and can be cleared up with a single phone call. But clients stay with you because you’re able to handle the slight items and the urgent items with equal ease and responsiveness. That’s how you build trust.



Q: How accessible are you?


A:

I make sure that I can always be reached and that I have exactly the same access to my data at home as I do at work so no matter what time it is I can help clients out. I have six phone lines at my house; I carry a BlackBerry, cell phone and pager with me everywhere I go. I can always be reached and I always respond.



Q: Sounds almost compulsive.


A:

I’ve asked new clients of mine why they decided to leave their old counsel, and most of them have told me that the No. 1 reason they left was because they felt their attorney wasn’t responsive enough



Q: What was one of the most stressful situations you’ve been involved in?


A:

I got a call on a Friday evening that one of the firm’s biggest clients had passed away and the family requested that the funeral be held that Sunday meaning I had to get a burial permit, signed by a city official by Sunday. That was an experience.



Q: How’d you get it done?


A:

Knowing people who know answers. L.A. County issues burial permits from 8 a.m. to noon on Saturdays. Not many people know that. Thankfully, someone I know did, so I sent someone over to City Hall Saturday morning and had everything arranged. The funeral was beautifully done, with all the required paperwork. That was very challenging but the family was very appreciative.



Q: That sounds like one of the most rewarding aspects of the job: the gratitude of your clients.


A:

That is one of the best parts; but driving million-dollar racecars is fun, too. Not bad for a concierge.



Tim Lappen


Title:

Chairman, family office group


Company:

Jeffer Mangels Butler & Marmaro LLP


Born:

1947, Los Angeles


Education:

B.A. in social sciences, University of California at Berkeley; J.D., UCLA.


Career Turning Point:

Leaving a large law firm in 1977 to launch one with his brother


Most Influential Person:

His father, Chet, a successful attorney


Hobbies:

Motorcycle riding and “being Mr. Fix-It”

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