Mike Amir hesitated before defending a former Ralphs executive under federal indictment for allegedly using fake Social Security numbers to hire locked-out workers during the supermarket strike of five years ago.

The indicted executive, Scott Drew, was a friend’s brother. But Amir, a name partner at Century City boutique Amir Doll & Eley LLP, specialized in business litigation and had no experience with white-collar crime.

“I said I would be more than happy to talk to him and refer him to someone,” Amir said. But he and fellow partner Greg Doll eventually decided to take the case. That was in October 2008.

It was the right move: A federal jury in Los Angeles acquitted Drew and two other former executives June 22 of fraud and conspiracy. (The other two were represented by different counsel.)

An additional two former executives previously pleaded guilty in the case and are awaiting sentencing.

Amir said the five hours he spent waiting for the jury deliberation were tense. “I was hoping and praying that they would come out with a decent verdict. We were nervous.”

After a year of preparation, the trial lasted less than three weeks. Amir and Doll enlisted a former federal prosecutor as a consultant, and staged a mock trial in front of 40 people playing jurors.

The whole process was a learning experience.

“I had to lock myself in and study all of the criminal rules of the procedure, which are totally different than the civil rules of procedures,” Amir said.

With one victory to their names, do Amir and Doll plan to tackle more white-collar criminal defense cases?

“Yes, I got the bug I think,” Amir said.

Expert Promotion

Downtown L.A. firm Quinn Emanuel Urquhart Oliver & Hedges LLP named high-profile political analyst Susan Estrich as partner last week. She said with tongue in cheek that all she had to do for the promotion was help win Mattel’s battle for ownership of the Bratz fashion dolls.

“All you have to do is spend a year and a half rewriting everyone’s motions on the Mattel case and tell John Quinn what to say,” Estrich said. “It’s amazing.”

It didn’t hurt that Estrich is a longtime friend of Quinn Emanuel founder John Quinn; they met at Harvard Law School.

During their time at Harvard, Quinn supported Estrich’s run for president of the Harvard Law Review she won, becoming the first woman president.

A Fox News legal and political analyst, Estrich joined Quinn Emanuel’s downtown L.A. office in January 2008 as of-counsel. She is perhaps best known as the first woman to run a national presidential campaign, overseeing Michael Dukakis’ 1988 bid for the presidency.

Although her new role as partner comes with an added workload, Estrich said she will continue to teach at USC’s Gould School of Law.

“After 25 plus years of teaching, it gets easier,” she said. “I spend Mondays at USC and the rest of the week in front of my computer.”

Public Service

L.A. appellate lawyer Edward Lazarus wasn’t surprised when he was called to Washington, D.C., as chief of staff for new Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski.

Lazarus moved into his office in the nation’s capital last week. The former Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP partner is a longtime friend of Genachowski and they had made their plans soon after it became apparent that President Obama was going to make the appointment.

“He had told me that he hoped that once he was confirmed, he would be able to bring me on board,” Lazarus said. “And it happened quickly.”

Lazarus joined the Century City office of Akin Gump in 2000 after serving as a federal prosecutor in the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Los Angeles.

During his nine-year tenure at Akin, Lazarus helped build an appellate department in the firm’s Century City office, which is home to appellate specialists Rex Heinke and retired U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals Judge William Norris.

Despite his lack of experience in the world of telecommunications and media, Lazarus is looking forward to his responsibilities.

“It’s a very exciting time to be in D.C. and part of government,” he said.

Staff reporter Alexa Hyland can be reached at [email protected] or at (323) 549-5225, ext. 235.