Over a roughly twelve-month period ending spring 2009, the downtown Los Angeles office of Chicago-based Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal LLP dwindled from more than 70 attorneys to 30 due to a combination of departures and layoffs. Since then, the office has had trouble recovering its local reputation.
“It was an impediment to recruiting,” admitted Darry Sragow, the office’s managing partner. “There was a lingering word on the street that this was an office that had shed a lot of people and maybe had some kind of problem.”
But Sragow says the recent merger of Sonnenschein with London-based Denton Wild Sapte has gotten the attention of potential partners in the L.A. area, especially those who handle international matters. The merger instantly gave the newly formed SNR Denton a stronger international presence; the two firms, which had no offices in overlapping cities, combined for 48 offices in 32 countries.
“We started to get significant partner prospects who frankly would have not approached us before that deal was struck,” he said.
Mark Riera, who joined the firm on Sept. 23 after 26 years as a partner at Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP, said the merger was a major factor in his decision to come on board. The 53-year-old has a broad litigation practice that focuses on class-action defense for corporations. He said his book of business approaches $2 million, with clients that have included FedEx and Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma Corp.
“I can’t imagine a better platform to serve my clients who increasingly do business on a world scale,” he said.
The firm’s L.A. office added about half a dozen associates this year before the merger, and is now in growth mode.
“Probably a few other people will be joining Mark in the months to come, and they’re getting in at a time when they can help shape what this firm and office is going to become,” Sragow said.
Fresh Start
Raines Law Group, formerly a 15-attorney firm specializing in transactional work in the areas of real estate and private equity, re-launched last week as Raines Feldman LLP with the addition of entertainment attorney Miles Feldman. The new firm will continue to be based in Beverly Hills.
Feldman, 44, who left Westwood-based Liner Grode Stein Yankelevitz Sunshine Regenstreif & Taylor LLP, is a trial lawyer who specializes in entertainment and intellectual property. His clients have included the Black Eyed Peas, Will Smith, Starz Media and Activision.
Name partner Andrew Raines, 53, said Feldman’s addition will help serve existing clients.
“The vision was to take advantage of the fact that a lot of the work that we were doing on finance and real estate and private equity was beginning to be combined with entertainment, new media, hospitality and consumer products,” he said. “It became obvious that if we could bring Miles and those practice areas to our firm that it would provide a really unique value to our clients.”
Raines began the firm by himself in 2006. Counting the addition of Feldman, it has grown from 10 attorneys at the beginning of this year to 16. He also set up a unique management structure where even the most junior associate has equity in the firm, a fact that greatly appealed to Feldman.
“The last point which we really came together on is a really innovative, collaborative environment amongst the lawyers, where everybody’s voice is valued and is important – from our most junior lawyer to the top,” Feldman said.
Going Solo
After two years as a partner at downtown L.A.-based Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith LLP, it was clear Kathryn A. Tyler’s practice wasn’t a good fit for the firm. Tyler, who specializes in trademark and copyright disputes and also has expertise in green building and development, had trouble getting some of her clients accepted. So in April, she packed up and started a solo practice out of her Altadena home.
The move has allowed her to expand her representation of international clients and small-to-medium size businesses. Since April, Tyler’s client base has doubled, and she’s able to charge them significantly less than the $350 to $450 an hour she billed clients while at Lewis Brisbois.
Tyler, 57, worked as a paralegal before law school and has no problem handling the administrative side. She already has her sights set on expanding the firm next year.
“This is for someone who doesn’t mind writing, typing, filing their own documents, who is savvy with computer technology and software and has good administration skills,” she said.
Drawbacks include “a 24/7 routine” and the “lack of instant backup,” but Tyler has built a network of other solo practitioners to work with her on larger matters.
“What I and my associates and co-counsel do is an alternative to large law firm practice,” she said. “We’ve all been in large law firms and we’re the type that really like our independence and also have the skills to run our own solo practices.”
Staff reporter Alfred Lee can be reached at [email protected] or at (323) 549-5225, ext. 221.
