October 16, 2000
THE DAILY JOURNAL
By Tamara Scott
LOS ANGELES – Twelve Tuttle & Taylor lawyers – including the managing partner and seven other partners, two special counsel, one of-counsel and one associate – have joined the 12-attorney downtown Los Angeles office of San Diego-based Luce Forward Hamilton & Scripps, effective today.
The Tuttle group will raise Luce Forward’s presence in Los Angeles to 34 lawyers, including its 10-attorney West Los Angeles office. However, not all of the lawyers will move immediately because some attorneys first must wind down business at Tuttle & Taylor, which announced last month it will dissolve by the end of the year.
Joining Luce Forward as partners are Douglas W. Beck, Tuttle & Taylor’s managing partner, who is a seasoned general business trial lawyer, real estate attorney Timi Anyon Hallem, intellectual property and business litigation attorney Michael H. Bierman, corporate attorney Marc L. Brown, Laura J. Carroll, who specializes in environmental law, general business litigator and bankruptcy lawyer Louis E. Kempinsky, and creditors’ rights attorneys John Arthur Moe II and Jeffrey D. Wexler.
Business litigation and creditors’ rights bankruptcy attorney Edward A. Mendoza joins as special counsel, business litigator Sam S. Oh joins as special counsel, Marla J. Aspinwall joins as of-counsel and Katherine Perkins Ross joins as an associate. Other associates and support staff will follow.
“Luce Forward is a tremendous firm, and it’s a comfortable fit,” Hallem said. “We really like all the lawyers we met, and we are able to take a large group – about half of the Tuttle & Taylor partners. And to keep the lawyers together is an opportunity we really appreciate.”
In mid-September, when Tuttle & Taylor announced its plan to close after nearly 60 years as a premier Los Angeles law firm, it had 36 attorneys: 21 partners, four of-counsel and 11 associates. It now will be reduced substantially in size; however, some people are discussing whether part of the firm will remain together.
John R. Dent, a litigator who specializes in representing hotels, said that whether any Tuttle & Taylor attorneys spin off to form a new firm is a matter being discussed. Dent was the first attorney out the door last week when he joined Beverly Hills-based Hilton International as senior counsel, effective last Monday. “My preference would have been for Tuttle & Taylor to stay in practice. But that’s how it goes,” Dent said. “I’d like to see some entity survive, even without the name, because it would be nice to see the legacy continue.” Marjorie S. Steinberg, a senior real estate partner at Tuttle & Taylor, said, “People are still looking and talking to various [firms], thinking about what they want to do.”
Beck, who was involved in a litigation matter last week and unable to return telephone calls, probably will remain involved in Tuttle & Taylor closure matters.
Meanwhile, Luce Forward chair Robert D. Buell said he was elated by the infusion of Tuttle & Taylor lawyers in the firm.
“We’re very pleased,” Buell said. “We looked at the quality of Tuttle & Taylor lawyers with quality practices that happen to fit nicely with our strategic plan. We are gaining a cornerstone for our real estate practice in Los Angeles, which we have been looking to fill for a while, and Timi Hallem is an excellent fit. Secondly, the litigation talent – both in intellectual property and creditors’ rights areas – is something we’ve been expanding in the Los Angeles market, and these folks fit perfectly in that area.”
The Tuttle group bring clients Countrywide Home Loans, Destination Hotels & Resorts, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., First Professional Bank, Long Beach Oil Development Co., Lowe Enterprises Inc., Sharper Image, Storek & Storek Inc. and Sunkist Growers Inc.
Luce Forward’s Los Angeles clients include Accent Films, Allstate Insurance Co., Concerts West, Dole Food Company Inc., Environmental System Products Inc., Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc. and U.S. Trust Corp.
“We are desperately looking for associate support,” Kathy R. Jorrie, managing partner of Luce Forward’s Los Angeles office, said. “This is going to be our No. 1 challenge – to find good associates to bring on board – because there is plenty of work.”
Larry Watanabe of Watanabe & Nason, a Los Angeles-based legal recruiting agency, brokered the deal.
“The deal between the partners at Tuttle & Taylor and Luce Forward blends a perfect balance of practice synergy, sense of history the two firms share and, most importantly, culture,” Watanabe said. “There were many interested suitors for individual partners. This deal allows many of those who have practiced together since joining Tuttle from law school the ability to remain together and practice with a much larger platform.”
Luce Forward was founded in 1873 and has offices in La Jolla, San Francisco, Chicago and New York in addition to its two Los Angeles offices and San Diego headquarters.