December 18, 2009
THE RECORDER
By Petra Pasternak
SAN FRANCISCO – San Francisco real estate and land use boutique Ellman Burke Hoffman & Johnson is shutting its doors at the end of the year after more than three decades of practice.
Six partners, including longtime Managing Partner Jay Paxton and name partner Howard Ellman, and three associates are joining 163-lawyer Buchalter Nemer on Jan. 1. With the additions, Los Angeles-based Buchalter will have about 40 lawyers in two locations in San Francisco.
Five other Ellman Burke lawyers, including name partner Michael Burke, are heading to San Francisco real estate firm SSL Law Firm on Jan. 1.
Four of counsel have yet to decide what they’ll do about their practices, Paxton said.
Paxton, who joins Buchalter as a board member, said his firm had not been looking for a merger partner when Buchalter came calling. But he said he immediately saw the possibilities of a match, particularly with Buchalter’s expertise in finance, securities, tax and litigation, areas that he said have become more important with broader changes in the real estate industry. “A lot of real estate is moving into the hands of lenders and financial institutions,” Paxton said. Though Ellman Burke has recently represented several banks in connection with real estate finance and workouts, Buchalter’s broader practice in the commercial mortgage-backed securities market and securitized forms of real estate finance was not something Ellman Burke did, Paxtonsaid.
Burke, who says he prefers a smaller-firm environment, acknowledged the role economic uncertainty played in the decision to take a closer look at potential matchups. The SSL firm’s 15 existing lawyers work with clients such as Prudential Real Estate Investors, Metropolitan Life Insurance Co. and Equity Office Partners. “It’s always good to take a look at opportunities when in fact they are real opportunities, rather than take the chance that things will be fine forever,” he said. “No one knows how long we’re going to be in this difficult economic situation or when it’s going to turn.”
Rick Cohen, Buchalter’s L.A.-based managing partner, said the firm works informally with recruiters, usually looking for two or three lateral additions at a time. The firm has been looking for lawyers with books of business of at least $1 million who would fit in one of Buchalter’s practice areas, which include real estate, labor and employment, intellectual property and estate planning.
Though Cohen wouldn’t disclose the sizes of the six new partners’ books, he did say the nine-lawyer addition will increase firm revenue by at least $8 million per year. He added that his firm’sreal estate practice has grown by 20 percent in 2009 in both head count and revenue. Cohen predicted that 2009 will be the first year the firm surpasses the $100 million revenue mark. “I am confident we’ll hit $102 million.”
The lease on Buchalter’s Market Street office space is up in 2013, Cohen said. Until then, the firm will keep Ellman Burke’s existing location as well.
Ellman Burke was founded in 1976 by Ellman and Burke, two former Brobeck, Phleger & Harrison partners.
Going with Burke to SSL are partners Jodi Fedor, Christine Griffith and Diane Hanna, plus associate Corinne Calfee.
Paxton and Ellman are joining Buchalter with partners James Andrew, Michael Brody, Leslie Browne and Thomas Sherwood, as well as associates Elizabeth Bridges, Ivo Keller and Rikesh Patel.