Legal News

News regarding legal cases and Los Angeles area lawyers, attorneys and law firms.

Law Dictionaries for lawyers, law firms and attorneys

Alternative Dispute Resolution

Dispute Resolution Professionals - This special section appears each year in the Southern California Directory of Experts & Consultants. Find arbitrators, mediators, private judges and other dispute resolution service providers in more than 50 categories.

Fee Arbitration for Clients - Allows clients and attorneys to resolve disputes concerning fees and costs charged by the attorney through an informal, low cost alternative to the court system.

Mediation and Arbitration Services - Dispute Resolution Services (DRS) - A service to settle disputes in a non-court environment, in ways often quicker and less expensive than the court system. Each year, 25,000 people are helped through this service. Matters handled include attorney fee disputes, youth-adult conflicts, and business and consumer disputes.

Los Angeles-based law firm Jeffer, Mangels, Butler & Marmaro LLP has hired a partner and an associate from Greenberg Traurig LLP to open an office in Costa Mesa. Gordon A. Schaller, a longtime tax and estate planning lawyer in Orange County, was hired as managing partner of Jeffer Mangels’ Costa Mesa office last month. Schaller started the Costa Mesa office of Miami-based Greenberg Traurig LLP three years ago. Jeffer Mangels’ office is close by at 695 Town Center Drive, across from South Coast Plaza. The office opened last week. Lawyer Scott Harsh-man, also from Greenberg’s Costa Mesa office, is joining Schaller at Jeffer Mangels. The expansion here was a long time coming for Jeffer Mangels, the 12th-largest law firm in Los Angeles, according to the Los Angeles Business Journal.

Largest Los Angeles Law Firms

	Law Firms			Law Practice Areas
1	O'Melveny & Myers LLP 400 S. Hope St., 90071-2899 430-6000, www.omm.com		1885 13 Los Angeles	Antitrust/competition; appellate; aviation; capital markets; class action defense; corporate; entertainment and media; finance and restructuring; global enforcement and criminal defense; healthcare; insurance and mass torts; intellectual property and technology; labor and employment.
2	Latham & Watkins 633 W. Fifth St. Suite 4000, 90071-2007 485-1234, www.lw.com		1934 22 N/A	Corporate finance; mergers and acquisitions; venture and technology; complex business litigation; tax; real estate and finance; insolvency and restructuring; environmental and land use.
3	Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith LLP 221 N. Figueroa St. Suite 1200, 90012 250-1800, www.lbbslaw.com		1979 112 Los Angeles	Employment; insurance regulatory; healthcare.
4	Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP 333 S. Grand Ave., 90071-1504 229-7000, www.gibsondunn.com		1890 13 Los Angeles	Corporate tax, transactions and securities; antitrust and trade regulation; appellate and constitutional law; business crimes and investigations; business restructuring and reorganization;consumer class action; commercial litigation.
5	Quinn Emanuel Urquhart Oliver & Hedges LLP 865 S. Figueroa St. 10th Fl., 90017 443-3000, www.quinnemanuel.com		1986 5 Los Angeles	Business litigation.
6	Paul Hastings Janofsky & Walker 515 S. Flower St., 90071 683-6000, www.paulhastings.com		1951 17 N/A3	Employment; real estate; corporate(including project finance; mergers and acquisitions; corporate finance; bankruptcy; litigation (including intellectual property law).
7	Munger Tolles & Olson LLP 355 S. Grand Ave. 35th Fl., 90071-1560 683-9100, www.mto.com		1962 2 Los Angeles	Business litigation including intellectual property; entertainment /communications; securities; media defense and access issues; antitrust; energy; employment; aerospace/government contracts; white-collar criminal investigations.
8	Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP 333 S. Hope St. 48th Fl., 90071 620-1780, www.sheppardmullin.com		1927 9 Los Angeles	Full service business law firm.
9	Sidley Austin Brown & Wood 555 W. Fifth St., 90013 896-6000, www.sidley.com		1866 14 N/A	Litigation; corporate and finance; insolvency; intellectual property and technology; labor and employment; environmental; real estate; taxation.
10	Jones Day 555 S. Flower Sst. 50th Fl., 90071 489-3939, www.jonesday.com		1893 30 N/A	Intellectual property; antitrust; corporate criminal/internal investigations; product liability; labor and employment; mergers and acquisitions; pension benefits; tax.
11	Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom LLP 300 S. Grand Ave., 90071 687-5000, www.skadden.com		1948 22 New York	Corporate; corporate restructuring; banking; litigation; labor and employment; employee benefits; real estate; and tax.
12	Morrison & Foerster LLP 555 W. Fifth St., 90013-1024 892-5200, www.mofo.com		1883 19 N/A	Litigation; financial services; banking finance; corporate finance; real estate; intellectual property; entertainment and new media; land use and environmental; bankruptcy; labor and employment; and tax.
13	Kirkland & Ellis LLP 777 S. Figueroa St. 34th Fl., 90017 680-8400, www.kirkland.com		1908 7 N/A	Litigation; corporate; intellectual property; restructuring; tax.
14	Bingham McCutchen 355 S. Grand Ave. 44th Fl., 90071 680-6400, www.bingham.com		20027 11 Boston	Corporate; finance; litigation; environmental; intellectual property; labor.
15	Buchalter Nemer Fields & Younger 1000 Wilshire Blvd. Suite 1500, 90017-2457 891-0700, www.buchalter.com		1948 4 Los Angeles	Bank and finance; business practices.
16	Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP 300 S. Grand Ave. Suite 2200, 90071-3132 612-2500, www.morganlewis.com		1873 19 N/A	Litigation; corporate and securities matters; energy and infrastructure finance; environmental matters; mergers and acquisitions; labor and employment; real estate; real estate finance; tax.
17	Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP 725 S. Figueroa St. Suite 28th Fl., 90017-5406 488-7100, www.pillsburylaw.com		1875 16 San Francisco	Litigation; corporate; corporate securities and white-collar defense; intellectual property; insurance/reinsurance; restaurant, food and beverage industry; retail industry; retail industry; Japan practice.
18	Fulbright & Jaworski LLP 555 S. Flower St. 41st Fl., 90071 892-9200, www.fulbright.com		1919 13 Houston	Business litigation; corporate; public finance; environmental; labor and employment; healthcare; intellectual property; real estate and tax.
19	Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal LLP 601 S. Figueroa St. Suite 1500, 90017 623-9300, www.sonnenschein.com		1606 9 Chicago	Litigation; corporate; franchise; real estate; labor, intellectual property; healthcare; bankruptcy; trusts and estates.
20	Arnold & Porter LLP 777 S. Figueroa St. 44th Fl., 90017-5844 243-4000, www.arnoldporter.com		1946 7 Washington, DC	Antitrust; corporate securities; intellectual property and outsourcing; product liability; real estate.
21	Musick Peeler & Garrett LLP One Wilshire Blvd. Suite 2000, 90017 629-7600, www.mpgweb.com		1954 6 Los Angeles	Appellate; corporate; coverage; healthcare; labor and employment; litigation; tax; trusts and estates.
22	Manning & Marder Kass Ellrod Ramirez LLP 660 S. Figueroa St. 23rd Fl., 90071 624-6900, www.mmker.com		1994 5 Los Angeles	Government and police civil liability; insurance defense; employment law; workers' compensation defense; professional malpractice defense; intellectual property; general civil litigation; appellate; construction defect litigation; real estate litigation; trusts and estates litigation.
23	Milbank Tweed Hadley & McCloy LLP 601 S. Figueroa St. 30th Fl., 90017 892-4000, www.milbank.com		1866 10 New York	Corporate finance; mergers and acquisitions; restructuring project finance; litigation; tax.
24	Mayer Brown Rowe & Maw LLP 350 S. Grand Ave. 25th Fl., 90071-9500 229-9500, www.mayerbrownrowe.com		1881 13 Chicago	Banking and finance; bankruptcy; corporate and securities; environmental; government; litigation; real estate; tax.
25	Holland & Knight LLP 633 W. Fifth St., 90071 896-2400, www.hklaw.com		1967 26 Lakeland, Fl. 9	Indian law; trust and estates; corporate law; commercial litigation; real estate; employment law; bankruptcy.
26	White & Case 633 W. Fifth St. 19th Fl., 90071 620-7700, www.whitecase.com		1901 38 New York	General corporate including asset finance; bank finance; mergers and acquisitions; business litigation; intellectual property; insolvency; energy; infrastructure; project finance; white-collar criminal defense..
27	Weston Benshoof Rochefort Rubalcava MacCuish LLP 333 S. Hope St. 16th Fl., 90071 576-1000, www.wbcounsel.com		1984 2 Los Angeles	Business litigation; corporate and business transactions; energy; environmental; compliance and litigation; franchise; insurance coverage; intellectual property; land use; real estate; telecommunications; water resources; labor and employment; franchise and toxic torts.
28	Heller Ehrman LLP 601 S. Figueroa St. 40th Fl., 90017 689-0200, www.hellerehrman.com		1890 12 San Francisco	Antitrust; intellectual property; commercial trial; corporate responsibility; environmental; appellate; insurance recovery; international arbitration; securities litigation.
29	Howrey LLP 550 S. Hope St. Suite 1100, 90071 892-1800, www.howrey.com		1956 13 Washington, D.C.	Antitrust; intellectual property; commercial trial; corporate responsibility; environmental; appellate; insurance recovery; international arbitration; securities litigation.
30	Richards Watson & Gershon 355 S. Grand Ave. 40th Fl., 90071-3101 626-8484, www.rwglaw.com		1954 3 Los Angeles	Eminent domain; entertainment; environmental law/oil and gas; labor and employment; litigation;public agency and municipal law; public finance; real estate; redevelopment; water rights and water law.
31	Reed Smith 355 S. Grand Ave. Suite 2900, 90071 457-8000, www.reedsmith.com		1877 16 Pittsburgh	Litigation; corporate and securities; appellate; financial services; life sciences; product liability; labor/employment.
32	Thelen Reid & Priest LLP 333 S. Hope St. Suite 2900, 90071 576-8000, www.thelenreid.com		1924 6 New York; San Francisco	Commercial litigation; construction; labor and employment; intellectual property; insurance; white-collar criminal defense.
33	Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP 777 S. Figueroa St. Suite 3200, 90017-5855 629-2020, www.orrick.com		1863 15 N/A	Corporate law including real estate; financing including private and public financing, structured finance, energy and project finance; litigation.
34	Hill Farrer & Burrill LLP 300 S. Grand Ave. 37th Fl., 90071www.hillfarrer.com		1923 1 Los Angeles	Corporate transactions and consulting; entertainment; real property; taxation and estate planning; environmental; insurance and surety law; intellectual property; labor and employment; litigation
35	Murchison & Cumming LLP 801 S. Grand Ave. 9th Fl., 90017 623-7400, www.murchison-cumming.com		1952 5 Los Angeles	Business and commercial; construction law; directors and officers liability; general liability and casualty; health law; insurance law and risk management; international law and appellate; product liability; professional liability.
36	McKenna Long & Aldridge LLP 444 S. Flower St. Suite 800, 90071 688-1000, www.mckennalong.com		1939 8 Atlanta	Government contracts; litigation; real estate; complex litigation; white collar; environmental.
37	Nossaman Guthner Knox & Elliott LLP 445 S. Figueroa St. 31st Fl., 90071 612-7800, www.nossaman.com		1959 6 N/A	Complex civil litigation;infrastructure; land use; environmental; real property and water; health care; corporate transactions; public policy law.
38	Squire Sanders & Dempsey LLP 801 S. Figueroa St. 14th Fl., 90017 624-2500, www.ssd.com		1890 31 Cleveland	Litigation; corporate; Japan practice; China practice; labor and employment law; intellectual property; public finance; real estate; bankruptcy.
39	Morris Polich & Purdy LLP 1055 W. Seventh St. 24th Fl., 90017 891-9100, www.mpplaw.com		1969 4 Los Angeles	Appellate advocacy; architect and engineer law; asbestos litigation; business; civil litigation; construction law; drug, medical products and biotechnology; employment law; environmental law; estate planning; healthcare; insurance law; long term care; products liability; professional liability; toxic tort.
40	Burke Williams & Sorensen LLP 444 S. Flower St. Suite 2400, 90071 236-0600, www.bwslaw.com		1927 6 Los Angeles	Education law; environmental and natural resources law; labor and employment; public law; real estate and business law; trial and advocacy.
41	Ropers Majeski Kohn & Bentley 515 S. Flower St. Suite 1100, 90071 312-2000, www.ropers.com		1950 6 Redwood City	Appellate; civil rights; commercial litigation; construction; corporate law; employment; environmental; government agencies; insurance services; intellectual property; international; mergers and acquisitions.
42	K & R 350 S. Grand Ave. 21st Fl., 90071 229-0990, www.knrlaw.com		1978 2 Los Angeles	Health care.
43	Parker Milliken Clark O'Hara & Samuelian 333 S. Hope St. 27th Fl., 90071-1488 683-6500, www.pmcos.com		1913 1 Los Angeles	Litigation; labor/employment law; environmental; business; estate planning/probate and bankruptcy/creditor's rights.
44	Baker & Hostetler LLP 333 S. Grand Ave. Suite 1800, 90071-1523 975-1600, www.bakerlaw.com		1916 1014 Cleveland	Labor and employment; general corporate litigation; real estate; hospitality; music entertainment.
45	Davis Wright Tremaine LLP 865 S. Figueroa St. Suite 2400, 90017-2566 633-6800, www.dwt.com		1908 9 Seattle	Litigation; media litigation; corporate healthcare; corporate entertainment; employment law; intellectual property; immigration.
46	Brown Winfield & Canzoneri 300 S. Grand Ave. 15th Fl., 90071 687-2100, www.bwclaw.com		1974 1 Los Angeles	Real estate; public/private partnerships; litigation; municipal law.
47	Anderson McOharlin & Conners LLP 444 So. Flower St. 31st Fl., 90071 688-0080, www.amclaw.com		1947 2 Los Angeles	Litigation defense including employment practices, legal malpractice, first party property.
48	Hogan & Hartson LLP 500 S. Grand Ave. Suite 1900, 90071 337-6700, www.hhlaw.com		1904 23 Washington, D.C.	Patent/prosecution and litigation; labor and employment.
49	LaFollette Johnson DeHaas Fesler Silberberg & Ames 865 S. Figueroa St. Suite 3100, 90017 426-3600, www.ljdfa.com		1965 5 Los Angeles	Insurance defense litigation; general liability.
50	Sulmeyer Kupetz 333 S. Hope Street, 35th Fl., 90071 626-2311, www.sulmeyerlaw.com		1952 2 Los Angeles	Insolvency.

A California appeal court has revived an attempt to hold Los Angeles' Christensen, Glaser, Fink, Jacobs, Weil & Shapiro liable for the removal of 12 cash-stuffed duffel bags from a Palm Springs, Calif., condo 10 years ago. The suit, filed by a receiver for a company called PCO Inc., contends that name partner Robert Shapiro helped PCO's former president David Laing arrange to have as much $6 million in cash removed from his home so he could post bail and pay Shapiro's fees. The cash grab was allegedly designed to beat a judge's order freezing Laing's assets. Kirkland & Ellis' Los Angeles law office has hired Mark Holscher, the O'Melveny & Myers partner who has represented Wen Ho Lee, former Congressman Randy "Duke" Cunningham and former Enron CEO Jeffrey Skilling. Holscher will lead the expansion of 1,300-lawyer Kirkland's white-collar practice on the West Coast, with the help of new partner Jeffrey Sinek, who is joining from Thelen Reid Brown Raysman & Steiner. "We view this as an increasingly important practice area, and increasingly complementary to our complex civil litigation practice," said Kirkland's John Weissenbach, a senior partner in the Los Angeles law office. The Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms today said it is an outrage that the Los Angeles city council supports new efforts to ratchet down on the rights of law-abiding gun owners, while it touts itself a "Sanctuary City" for illegal aliens. Los Angeles is one of about 50 cities around the country that have adopted so-called "Sanctuary Laws" that prevent police from determining someone's immigration status. Yet Los Angeles suffers from a plague of gang violence, and many of these criminals are in this country illegally. "The city council has endorsed four new California anti-gun bills," noted CCRKBA Executive Director Joe Waldron, "that target the wrong people. These bills place additional burdens on firearms retailers and law-abiding gun owners, but do nothing to curtail gang activities or stop gang members, many of whom do not belong in this country. These criminals make our neighborhoods unsafe, not citizens who legally own firearms.