Since Washington’s Hogan & Hartson merged with London’s Lovells in 2010 to form Hogan Lovells, the firm’s L.A. office has struggled to hold on to attorneys, dropping to about 20 at one point from about 50.
But the addition this month of an eight-attorney group from Kaye Scholer gives the outpost a much needed boost – one that firm leaders hope will help return it to prominence in the local market.
“This is the most significant addition we’ve made in the last several years,” said Stephen Kay, L.A. office managing partner. “We think this is a great indicator for the direction we’re moving in.”
Mergers between large law firms can prove double-edged for attorneys, potentially leading to new business from a larger international presence but also introducing client conflicts. Many of the attorneys who left Hogan after the merger cited those conflicts as the reason for departure.
But Barry Dastin, one of the new corporate and M&A partners from Kaye, said the larger firm allows him to cross-sell to clients in other geographic regions.
“The opportunities have been greater than the (conflict) issues,” he said. “We have a Chinese client that just retained us to invest in a French entity and that’s not something we could have done easily at the other place. We’ve gotten referrals already from the New York and Tokyo offices, and those are matters I wouldn’t be involved in had I not moved.”
The group also includes partners Sheri Jeffrey, a media and entertainment attorney, and corporate and M&A attorney Russ Cashdan.
The additions bring the office head count to 31 attorneys. Before joining, Dastin said firm leaders confirmed to him they wanted to build the office up to between 50 and 70 attorneys.
The firm is looking to hire in both corporate and litigation, focusing on sectors such as technology and media, life sciences, aerospace, defense, financial services and automotive, Kay said.
Eyeing Mexico
The addition of former U.S. Department of Commerce official Michael C. Camuñez marks the latest move by West L.A.’s Manatt Phelps & Phillips to bolster its nonlegal business consulting subsidiaries as well as its emphasis on Mexico.
Camuñez has joined as president of ManattJones Global Strategies, a consulting firm that advises clients on doing business in international marketplaces, especially Mexico and Latin America.
As an assistant secretary of commerce in the Obama administration, Camuñez led several trade and policy missions to Mexico and worked on initiatives to deepen U.S.-Mexico trade ties. He said he will provide business consulting to clients looking to do business or invest south of the border, particularly in the areas of energy, telecommunications and technology.
Though concerns remain about drug violence in Mexico, Camuñez said the market has potential for big growth thanks to new President Enrique Peña Nieto proposing economic reforms that would open up the country to investment.
“It’s on a strong trajectory of acceleration and growth,” he said.
James Jones, a former U.S. ambassador to Mexico, will remain chairman of ManattJones.
ManattJones is not Manatt Phelps’ only business subsidiary. Earlier this year, the firm launched a digital investment arm, Manatt Digital Media, and also has Manatt Health Solutions, a health care consulting firm.
In addition to his consulting role, Camuñez will be joining as an attorney in the law firm’s government and regulatory policy practice group.
George Kieffer, chairman of the group, said the consulting practice was complementary to the firm.
“It brings business to the law firm of an advisory nature and also brings traditional legal business,” he said.
Video Game Practice
Since its founding last year, West L.A.’s Goldberg Lowenstein & Weatherwax has ballooned, growing to 34 attorneys in three offices from three attorneys in one office.
The firm’s niche has been patent litigation at rates lower than larger firms. Now, it’s looking to apply that specialty to the video game industry with the launch of a video game law practice group.
Co-founding Partner Nathan Lowenstein said he sees a wave of video game patent litigation coming as the industry expands. He targeted experts in the field, recently hiring Robert D. Brain, a professor at Loyola Law School who wrote a leading casebook on video game law, and Betsy Rosenblatt, a professor who teaches video game law at Whittier Law School.
The group consists of about a dozen attorneys in the L.A. office. Lowenstein said it will mostly seek to defend large video game companies against patent lawsuits. In the past, attorneys at the firm have represented Activision Inc. and MTV Games, and he cited both as companies the firm would like to work with.
“It’s a growth area where I thought we had the right talent in place,” he said. “What I didn’t see is a midsize firm making a sustained effort in this area. … We have a tremendous amount of depth in patent litigation and we think we’re a good fit for a lot of those companies.”
Staff reporter Alfred Lee can be reached at [email protected] or (323) 549-5225, ext. 221.
