Large Firms
Jun. 22, 2002
Former Software Executive Is New Latham Rainmaker
LOS ANGELES - Returning to private law practice but not to his former law firm of Irell & Manella, technology lawyer and entrepreneur Robert Steinberg joined Latham & Watkins' Los Angeles office Monday as a partner.
Steinberg, who was a $5 million rainmaker at Los Angeles' Irell & Manella before serving a three-year stint as a corporate executive, was drawn to Latham & Watkins because of its worldwide presence and large base of corporate clients.
Since 1999, Steinberg served as chief executive officer of xSides Corp., a privately held software development company. During that period, he traveled back and forth between his Los Angeles home and the company's Seattle headquarters, but after the dislocations in the airline industry following Sept. 11, the commuting schedule became increasingly difficult.
"I wanted to spend more time working in a place closer to where I live, and it didn't make sense for me to run the day-to-day operations of the company anymore," he said.
He noted that he will continue serving as chairman of xSides.
In the past few months, Steinberg has spoken with several law firms in the Los Angeles area, including 215-attorney Irell & Manella, where he spent 11 years, about returning to private practice. Ultimately, he decided that Latham & Watkins was the best match for his practice.
Steinberg, who focuses on intellectual property transactions and litigation, says that the 1,400-attorney Los Angeles law firm has many corporate clients that need his type of services.
"In the current market climate, companies are forced to be more focused on the fundamentals of their businesses, and part of that means they have to be very IP-savvy, especially in the technology sector, to maintain their market share," Steinberg, 42, said.
"I can assist Latham and its client base in these sophisticated IP transactions," added Steinberg, who has undergraduate degrees in engineering and economics as well as a law degree from Georgetown University Law Center.
Steinberg said that he jumped at the opportunity to work with several of his former Irell & Manella colleagues who now work at Latham & Watkins, including Mark Flagel, co-chair of the firm's 300-attorney intellectual property and technology practice.
"It's back to old times, because my office is right next door to Mark's," Steinberg said. "It's like stepping back in time."
Steinberg has a valuable set of skills, Flagel noted.
"Bob is able to understand not only the economics of the high-tech industry but also from a technical perspective what is going on with a company, which positions him uniquely to be able to provide insight and direction to companies that are in need of both," Flagel said.
At Irell & Manella, Steinberg's clients included America Online (now AOL Time Warner), Walt Disney Corp., Broadcom Corp. and LucasArts Entertainment Co.
Steinberg will represent xSides at Latham & Watkins, but he said it's premature to provide a complete client list.
"He developed an incredible practice at Irell & Manella, and I believe he will do so at Latham," Flagel said.
Toni Vranjes
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