Pasadena-based Lagerlof LLP continues to execute its growth strategy. It has expanded into the South Bay and last month began foraying into employment law.
Estate planning attorney Erin Prouty rejoined the firm effective Nov. 1 and will lead the firm’s new office in El Segundo. Meanwhile, Kien Tiet joined the Pasadena office in October as a senior counsel and is expected to grow the firm’s new employment law practice. The moves are the latest in several years of mergers and hires for Lagerlof.
“I’d love to have 100 attorneys across the firm,” Managing Partner Joshua Driskell said. “We’ll continue to expand into markets outside of the ones that are already there. It really is about finding that fit and making sure that what we’re adding is a net positive.”
Prouty, who previously worked at Lagerlof, returns after spending 25 years with Hoffman Sabban & Watenmaker, a Westwood trust and estates boutique. She’ll continue her practice at Lagerlof, where her clients can enjoy other legal specialists, and build out the El Segundo office to a 15-attorney headcount.
“Although the firm has changed quite a bit. I’m very excited about it. The direction the firm has taken, especially in recent years, has been really impressive. The atmosphere is great,” Prouty said. “I learned a lot (at Hoffman Sabban & Watenmaker). We were really specialized. Here, my clients can also get their corporate, real estate, tax and civil litigation needs taken care of. We don’t need to send them out anymore.”
Lagerlof in 2020 merged with two other Pasadena firms to significantly increase its headcount in the city. Last year, it added another Pasadena firm to its roster, which included an Encino location. Driskell hailed South Bay for its untapped client and talent potential.
“Several of our partners are either from that area or still do a lot of work in the South Bay, so we’re capitalizing on some of the connections we have down there,” he said. “And kind of like Pasadena, it’s a distinct market (for clients) but it’s not traditionally served by South Bay firms. For the most part, they’re served by Century City or downtown firms, and we think there’s a market for clients.”
Prouty added that she felt there were good recruiting opportunities there, given the amount of people who live in the South Bay and don’t relish a commute downtown or to the West Side.
“It’s always a tough project to find good talent,” she said. “We’re really excited about the South Bay because we think it’s a really underrepresented area, at least in my practice area. We’re finding that there’s talent in that area and people who don’t want to drive so far to work.”
Tiet, who joined from Jackson Lewis, brings a wide variety of employment law expertise to the firm. Driskell said adding that practice group is a vital cog to the firm’s growth plans.
“Employment law has been our No. 1 area that we’ve had to refer out, so it’s been great to solve for that,” he said. “It’s also an area that, if we’re going to continue to be a full-service firm, it was a necessity to add. It’s absolutely going to continue to be a hot area. Even when the market has cooled down a little bit, employment law is one of those core practices you can always go back to.”
