July 3, 2007
THE DAILY JOURNAL
By Maya Meinert
ORANGE COUNTY – Luce, Forward, Hamilton & Scripps will expand its Southern California real estate practice this summer when it opens a new office in Orange County.
Two partners, John C. Murphy and George C. Rudolph, have signed on to open the Irvine office of the San Diego-based firm. Between 12 and 14 attorneys, some of whom will come from within Luce Forward, will staff the new office, which is slated to open Aug. 1.
Murphy, 52, brings his eminent domain, inverse condemnation and complex business dispute practice from Nossaman Guthner Knox & Elliott, where he had been for the last 18 years. He graduated from the USC Gould School of Law in 1980.
Murphy said he was looking forward to the change.
“Luce is a firm with a long successful history and some exciting plans for future expansion that will occur concurrently with maintaining its high standard of excellence,” he said.
Rudolph, 56, comes from Theodora Oringher Miller & Richman, where he was a senior attorney in the firm’s Orange County office. He brings a practice in business and real estate litigation, as well as experience in transactions and employment law. Rudolph graduated from Hastings College of the Law in 1976.
“[Luce Forward] … is in the right position at this time in its practice mix to take off and maximize all of what we have to offer in California and certainly to make a huge mark in Orange County and Southern California,” Rudolph said. “That’s what turned my head.”
The new office will be located in the Irvine building of client Opus West Corp., a member of The Opus Group, a full-service design-build development firm serving the Western United States, according to Robert J. Bell, managing partner of Luce Forward.
“We have a lot of clients in Orange County, especially real estate clients,” Bell said. “In the past, clients have asked us to have more of our people closer to them. We think that it’s a wonderful place to have a real estate practice and a business practice. There’s growth potential, and we can develop more business in that area.”
Murphy said he hopes to bring a “significant portion” of his practice to Luce Forward, and Rudolph plans to bring all of his clients with him.
“They’re a good fit for our mix in that office,” Bell said.
Murphy’s move was brokered by recruiting firm Watanabe Nason Schwartz & Lippman. No recruiter took part in Rudolph’s move.
Murphy and Rudolph cited the opportunity to open a new office and further develop their practices as reasons for the move.
But Bill Nason, of Watanabe Nason, shed some light on Murphy’s move to Luce Forward, identifying conflict between Nossaman’s public-agency clients and Murphy’s development-company clients.
“The firm was moving in one direction, and John’s clients were moving in another,” Nason said. “It just wore on him.”
Michael Heumann, managing partner at Nossaman, said Murphy’s departure would not have a significant effect on the firm, despite Murphy’s having once served as the firm’s eminent-domain practice leader.
“We have a strong eminent-domain practice,” Heumann said. “It will continue to go on successfully.”
Nossaman recently announced the addition of four attorneys to its Orange County office, expanding its own real estate, land use, water and employment law practices.
Luce Forward has 200 attorneys practicing in offices in Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco, Carmel Valley/Del Mar and Rancho Sante Fe.
Nossaman counts 130 attorneys and lobbyists throughout seven offices nationwide.