Am Law 100 firm Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP is building on its foray into the Los Angeles market with a second office here.

The Columbia, South Carolina-based firm has hired a product liability litigation team to kickstart a new location in downtown. Nelson Mullins first entered L.A. in 2017 with an office in Torrance.

The new team, led by Keith Ameele, lateraled from the downtown office of London Fischer LLP. The firm sought to keep the team downtown following the move.

“This allowed Nelson Mullins to open a second location with another group of litigators that was walking distance to the courtrooms,” Ameele said.

“We had known several of the partners at Nelson Mullins for years and thought pretty highly of the firm. It was a pretty seamless transition,” he added.

Locally, the team also includes partner Pete Mularczyk and senior associates Kent Grover and Robert Young; two others also joined Nelson Mullin’s New York office.

“We are excited to welcome this group of experienced litigators to our deep litigation practice and the firm’s new office in downtown Los Angeles,” said Nelson Mullins managing partner Jim Lehman in a statement.

“This group of attorneys will bring additional depth to our products liability practice and expand our breadth on both coasts,” Lehman added.

This team will operate out of Torrance until a downtown office is secured.

While product liability will drive the downtown office, the initial Torrance location has built a relatively niche focus on automotive industry work. Richard Otera serves as the partner in charge of the L.A. market.

Ameele noted that he expected his new office to grow with its workload.

“I’m pretty optimistic. The work would have to drive that,” Ameele added. “We’re already pretty busy and have several trials lined up. We’re going to get there pretty soon.”