August 25, 2006

THE DAILY JOURNAL

By Robert Iafolla

LOS ANGELES – Another Alschuler Grossman Stein & Kahan litigator is leaving to join Steptoe & Johnson’s newly minted Century City office.

Litigator Michael R. Heimbold, who will arrive there Saturday, said he started looking to leave Alschuler Grossman when it began exploring merger opportunities.

The Santa Monica-based firm has been in discussions with at least three firms in the past four months, most recently with Cooley Godward, which this week announced a merger with New York litigation house Kronish Lieb Weiner & Hellman.

“My firm was exploring its options, so it was a good time for me to explore my options,” Heimbold said. “After talking to several firms, I decided this would be best for my career and my practice.”

Heimbold said he had been talking with the firm for the past two months.

He said Steptoe & Johnson’s international presence, with an office in Brussels as well as Washington, D.C., and New York, was a major selling point. Steptoe & Johnson has 400 lawyers in six offices.

“We are truly delighted to have a lawyer of his stature and confidence,” said Lawrence Riff, managing partner at Steptoe & Johnson’s downtown Los Angeles office.

Riff said Heimbold figures into both elements of the Washington D.C.-based firm’s expansion into Los Angeles. The first is populating its two Los Angeles-area offices with quality attorneys. The firm opened its 16-lawyer downtown office in 1997.

In June, Mark A. Neubauer and a team of three business litigators left Alschuler Grossman and opened Steptoe & Johnson’s Century city office.

“Both Mike and Mark are wonderful human beings and terrific lawyers,” said Stanton “Larry” Stein, name partner and head of the media and entertainment practice at Alschuler Grossman. “They both had a great opportunity. I look forward to working with them in the future and wish them the very best.”

Riff said Steptoe & Johnson is in talks with other attorneys. The Century City office houses seven lawyers.

Steptoe & Johnson Chairman Roger Warin said in June that he hopes to have 15 lawyers practicing in the office by year’s end.

Moreover, Riff said, Heimbold plays an important role in the second element of the firm’s L.A. growth plan.

“We want to expand our litigation capability, and Mike, with his practice repertoire, really advances that goal,” he said.

Most of Heimbold’s practice is litigation and includes intellectual property, entertainment and employment matters. Forty percent of his work is transactional.

His clients, which he declined to name, come from the telecommunications computer and consumer products industries, as well as from entertainment. He said all but two will join him at Steptoe & Johnson.

Heimbold graduated from Loyola Law School in Los Angeles. Before studying law, he graduated from California State University, Long Beach, and worked at McDonnnell Douglas Corp., as an aerospace engineer.

He first practiced law at Height, Brown & Bonesteel, before moving on to Stein & Kahan. He joined Alschuler Grossman when it merged with Stein & Kahan in 1999. The firm has 90 lawyers in its lone Santa Monica office.