June 12, 2007
THE RECORDER
By Kellie Schmitt
LOS ANGELES – Steptoe & Johnson is boosting its newly created Century City office with the addition of partner Robbin Itkin, who joined the firm from Kirkland & Ellis Monday.
Itkin, who was a Kirkland partner, will launch the West Coast restructuring and insolvency practices for 450-lawyer Steptoe. She joined Kirkland about six years ago from the bankruptcy boutique she cofounded, Wynn, Spiegel & Itkin.
“The decision was based on an opportunity I couldn’t refuse to help launch a new restructuring group,” she said. “It was definitely the leadership opportunity, the ability to start in a fairly newly opened office, to help be part of the expansion, and to help create the restructuring group regionally and nationally.”
Itkin is bringing “most” of her clients, and one associate. Her work includes representing debtors, creditors and purchasers and trustees in corporate restructuring and bankruptcy. For example, she was on the Kirkland team representing NRG Energy in its debt restructuring and bankruptcy procedures.
Steptoe opened its Century City outpost about 11 months ago with several lawyers from then-Alschuler Grossman Stein & Kahan. In October, it poached Robert Kovelman, the head of Brown Raysman Millstein Felder & Steiner’s intellectual property practice in Los Angeles, who joined with several attorneys. That Steptoe office now totals 20 attorneys.