As it approaches its six-month milestone, litigation-only firm Frost LLP has already tripled its headcount in its quest to become the latest trial attorney mainstay in Los Angeles.
Formed in June, the Westwood law firm has gone from four to 12 attorneys in that time, with the most recent three joining this month. Namesake partner Christopher Frost cofounded the firm with attorneys John Maatta and Josh Stambaugh and Chief Operating Officer Candice Hassid. Maatta, who also worked as an executive at The CW Television Network and The WB Television Network, was once a client of Frost’s, while Stambaugh studied under Frost at Pepperdine Caruso School of Law and then worked with him at Weinberg Gonser. Hassid also worked at Weinberg Gonser.
“I’ve wanted to own my own practice for the better part of 20 years,” Frost said. “I have toyed with the idea a few times and finally we found ourselves in a position where I have managed through good fortune to find the team to launch that practice.”
The founding team pitches the firm as bringing Big Law experience into an aggressive boutique lens. Frost, who was previously a name partner at Westwood-based Weinberg Gonser LLP, clocked in time at downtown’s O’Melveny & Myers LLP earlier in his career. Maatta once practiced at Greenberg Traurig LLP. Others on staff have resumes that include Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP – another local litigation-only firm, which has gone international – and Holland & Knight LLP.
“It informs everything that I do in terms of this practice,” Maatta, who was chief executive at convention producer Wizard Entertainment Inc., said of his business experience. “I spent about 30 years as a business executive. In that capacity, I had the luxury of hiring the biggest firms in America to represent us in one capacity or another. It was a luxury and epiphany. I was awaked to what some attorney relationships can be like.”
Frost LLP’s litigation efforts will focus on the antirust, entertainment, commercial, corporate and employment spheres. The firm has gradually added attorneys this year as part of an organic growth plan. While there aren’t formal plans to plant roots in other markets, Frost did note that the firm has picked up a lot of work in New York so far.
“We’re not interested in getting big for the sake of getting big. We’re going to grow organically, and we’re going to do that by focusing on our relationships,” he said. “We have no specific plan or trajectory in terms of where we want to end up. We just want to do good legal work and grow organically with that. As opportunities create themselves, there’s no part of the U.S. we’re (opposed to) considering.”
Maatta said he and the others were drawn to litigation because it is “a different animal” to focus on such high stakes, especially being so heavily involved in the businesses of their clients. As a former executive, he said it was easier to find the right qualities in attorneys to hire for the firm.
“As a client, I really needed to work with people who really understood and had empathy for my businesses,” he said. “I’m very attuned to the human dynamic of what goes into being a successful attorney and because of my experience of being a client and a lawyer, I know what’s important to clients and what’s important to getting a result.”
