New York litigation boutique Paduano & Weintraub LLP is celebrating its first expansion: It opened an office in Century City this month.

Kicking off operations there is Gene Williams, who will serve as co-head of that office as it grows into the market. He’ll be joined in the fall by Lisia Leon, who had worked out of the New York headquarters but handled California cases prior to the expansion.

The firm brought in Williams, who previously was at Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani, at a headhunter’s suggestion.

“They are a perfect fit and I connect with them on a personal level,” Williams said, referring to co-founders Anthony Paduano and Leonard Weintraub. “There’s a level of trust and respect between us that makes it really easy to transition to. I’ve had the benefit of running a group at Gordon Rees and this was the natural next step, and I get to do it at a boutique firm that allows more direct interaction with my clients. I love teaching and working with younger associates and I’m looking forward to training the next wave of attorneys who will be defending employers in California.”

Formed in 2000, Paduano & Weintraub offers full-service litigation defense services. The firm is hiring a paralegal now, and Williams said demand is such that he’ll likely start looking for associates right away.

“The opening of our L.A. office marks a significant milestone for our firm,” said  Meredith Cavallaro, who chairs the firm’s employment litigation and counseling practices. “Having a physical presence in California enables us to better serve existing clients with operations throughout California as well as introduce our comprehensive litigation and employment counseling services to new clients.”

Williams said starting an offshoot here was appealing to him because he prefers the personal touch of a boutique firm.

“They’ve been there for 20 years and they’ve remained at the same boutique size,” Williams said. “The expectation and plan is to stay at boutique size because we think that provides a level of cost efficiency and accessibility to our clients that you can’t get at the bigger firms.”