Attorneys Scramble as Failed Merger Spells End for 101-Year-Old Law Firm
LAW by Amanda Bronstad
Lyon & Lyon LLP has gone out like a lamb.
Partners of the 101-year-old Los Angeles intellectual property boutique voted to dissolve on Aug. 7 after last-minute merger discussions fell through.
Eighty-seven attorneys, including 31 partners, are dispersing to other firms from Lyon & Lyon’s offices in L.A., Washington and San Jose. Meanwhile, the firm’s offices in Irvine and San Diego continue to hold merger discussions with other firms.
The firm will close its doors Aug. 31.
Lyon & Lyon, plagued by partner defections in the past few years, had been in talks to merge with Palo Alto-based Townsend and Townsend and Crew LLP. Those talks ended on July 26.
“When that failed, there was a loss of confidence, and people started looking outward rather than inward,” said Jack McConaghy, partner at Lyon & Lyon in L.A.
Lyon & Lyon has 16 partners in L.A. and eight partners in Irvine.
McConaghy, who declined to say who he would be joining, said senior partner Robert Lyon, grandson of founder Frederick Lyon, is going to Holland & Knight LLP.
In Irvine, senior partner James Geriak is spearheading merger discussions, McConaghy said. Geriak could not be reached for comment.
Lyon & Lyon, founded in 1901, is one of the last major IP boutiques in L.A. In recent years, like several other IP firms, it could no longer compete with the larger, general practice law firms with IP practices.
In 2000, several partners left Lyon & Lyon’s San Diego office for Brobeck Phleger & Harrison LLP. In 2001, after merger talks with Jones Day Reavis & Pogue fell through, several more senior partners in L.A. and Irvine left.
In late July 2002, the entire office in New York left for Proskauer Rose LLP.
Advertising Ride
Talk about being “X-tremely” upset.
A Los Angeles resident has sued Six Flags Magic Mountain, claiming that the Valencia amusement park is falsely advertising its new roller coaster, X, which has been closed in recent weeks.
Alfred Mirzaie filed suit July 30 in Los Angeles Superior Court on behalf of all season ticket holders to Six Flags Magic Mountain.
His lawyer, T. Matthew Phillips, said he expects the suit to be certified as a class representing “tens of thousands” of season ticket holders within a few months.
Six Flags announced the January 2002 opening of X a roller coaster that spins 360 degrees and was advertised as the first four-dimensional thrill ride. But the suit claims the ride “has been closed more often than open.”
Andy Gallardo, spokesman for Six Flags Magic Mountain, declined to comment about the lawsuit, but said the ride closed 75 days ago for design changes that will allow the ride to run “more efficiently.”
Staff reporter Amanda Bronstad can be reached at (323) 549-5225 ext. 225, or at
[email protected]
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