Steptoe & Johnson LLP’s plans to open a West Los Angeles office could be close to fruition.
“Over the course of nine years (in Los Angeles), the firm has pursued opportunities in other key markets, including opening London, Brussels and New York offices,” said L.A. managing partner Lawrence Riff. “We have now turned our attention to expanding on our established Southern California presence and toward that end we are actively seeking top quality lawyers in Los Angeles.”
Alschuler Grossman Stein & Kahan LLP partners Michael R. Heimbold and Mark A. Neubauer have been approached to join the new office.
Neither the attorneys nor the firms returned calls for comment and Riff sidestepped the issue.
“We are in discussions with several groups but all of those discussions are presently at a point where it is not appropriate to identify names,” he said. “We are, however, very excited about our expanding presence and operations in Southern California.”
The Alschuler firm has been the focus of intense scrutiny in recent months as it has been shopping for a national or international merger partner.
Seong H. Kim of Christensen Glaser Fink Jacob Weil & Shapiro LLP was also approached for a position, but a Christensen spokesperson said he’s staying put.
The Christensen firm has been in the headlines since managing partner Terry Christensen was indicted as part of the Anthony Pellicano probe. Other than the acrimonious exit of former No. 2 Louis R. “Skip” Miller, the firm has not lost staffers in the wake of the indictment.
Bees Waxing
Lawyers generally are not known for flair with literary style and grammar, so credit is due a number of Los Angeles lawyers who have volunteered to be humiliated on stage for a good cause.
“My goal is to get a bunch of attorneys up there without spell check to embarrass themselves for children’s literacy,” said Craig Fleishman, the executive director of Everybody Wins! Los Angeles. The organization sponsored the second annual Lawyers for
Literacy Spelling Bee at the El Rey Theater last week.
The group raised $40,000 and is expecting to boost receipts further with a 100-item silent auction. Proceeds will go to literacy programs at local schools.
The foundation is 16 years old with chapters in 40 cities across the nation. The Los Angeles chapter was founded in 2000. Volunteers visit local classrooms and read to students during their lunch breaks to foster a love for reading.
While spelling may not be a strong suit for most lawyers, competitive zeal seems to be.
Reigning champion Seyfarth Shaw LLP sent three teams of three people, to “stack the deck in their favor,” Fleischman joked. Stroock & Stroock & Lavan LLP, Holland & Knight LLP, Mayer Brown Rowe & Maw LLP, Kirkland & Ellis LLP, Foley & Lardner LLP, Robins Kaplan Miller & Ciresi LLP also sent teams.
Allen Wang, a Foley associate in the transactional securities practice, said he was looking to redeem himself from a loss in the Scripps Howard regional spelling bee when he was in the seventh grade.
“I still remember the word I lost on,” he said on the morning of the event. “R-E-S-C-I-N-D-A-B-L-E. I don’t remember anything I spelled right, but I remember that one.”
Wang said the Foley team’s “Mr. Miyagi” is Nate Lacktman, a recent Seyfarth transfer and a member of last year’s winning team. He sent a dictionary and word lists through the inter-office mail system and assigned sections to each team member.
KTLA’s Lynette Romero will emcee the event.
The winning team will receive a plaque and a great deal of S-A-T-I-S-F-A-C-T-I-O-N.
Government Work
Public service attorney Kit Bobko has spent years fighting for City Halls. Now he’s joining one.
The associate at Richards Watson & Gershon LLP was recently elected to a seat on the Hermosa Beach City Council.
Bobko, who’s been on the campaign trail for a year, described the experience as “like playing a ball game. You get up for it, play your heart out, and when it’s over you’re just spent. It’s exciting and it will grind you into
a pulp.”
A graduate of the Air Force Academy, Bobko comes from a long line of public service. His father was a career fighter pilot, an uncle was an astronaut and his brother is studying to be an emergency room doctor.
Bobko said that he’s looking forward to more long nights and that he’s most looking forward to meeting his constituents and his city’s infrastructure.
“The best thing is getting out and meeting the neighbors, putting on boots and looking at storm drains,” he said. “I hope nobody’s scared that after a long day of litigating, I’m out looking at a storm drain at 9:30 with my flashlight.”
Bobko raised the majority of his campaign funds through friends, family and his network of associates from the service.
“The military guys are proud as punch. I got checks from all over.”
Around Town
Holland & Knight LLP announced that first-year associate salaries in the Los Angeles office would increase from $125,000 to $142,500, including a $7,500 study stipend. Loeb & Loeb LLP named partner Michelle La Mar co-chair of the firm’s employment and labor team.
Staff reporter Emily Bryson York can be reached at [email protected] or at (323) 549-5225, ext. 235.
