Large Firms
Jun. 18, 2002
Two Pillsbury Litigators Go To Latham
SAN FRANCISCO - Two commercial litigators have resigned from Pillsbury Winthrop's San Francisco office to join Latham & Watkins' growing Bay Area litigation department.
Glenn Snyder, managing partner of Pillsbury Winthrop's San Francisco office, confirmed Friday that Stephen Stublarec and Christopher Byers will join Latham.
Separately, Snyder said Pillsbury has pushed back the start date for some incoming first-year associates from fall to December and January 2003 to "even out work loads" for existing associates.
Seventeen associates in Northern California, 17 in Los Angeles and 21 in New York will be affected, Snyder said.
"Our production has been a little bit off- target, and we wanted to give our existing associates an opportunity to be fully productive this year," Snyder said.
Snyder said the affected associates were "understanding," given the anxiety about recent law firm layoffs. In November, Pillsbury laid off 22 associates from its Palo Alto and New York City offices.
The firm does not "presently expect to make [more] layoffs, but we're not making a no-layoff pledge," Snyder said.
Regarding Stublarec's and Byers' move last Wednesday, Greg Lindstrom, Latham's San Francisco office managing partner, said the partners will "bring with them significant client relationships," meaning both clients and matters. "These are significant players," he said.
Among other matters, Stublarec, 51, has litigated insurance, unfair business practice, trade secrets and securities fraud cases. For six years, Stublarec said, he and a psychologist taught a course at Stanford Law School about juries and evidence.
Byers, 41, also specializes in complex commercial litigation, with an emphasis on defense of consumer class actions, unfair competition cases and insurance and reinsurance disputes. His clients at Pillsbury included BART, Swiss Re Life & Health Insurance, and Fidelity Life Insurance Co.
The departures leave Pillsbury with 190 lawyers in San Francisco and about 90 in Palo Alto. Latham employs 100 attorneys in San Francisco and 60 in its Menlo Park office.
Lindstrom said he expects Latham's attorney count to grow in Northern California by 20 percent this year and in the near future, until the firm is competitive in size with Pillsbury Winthrop, Morrison and Forrester, and Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati.
"We have the client base and the infrastructure to permit us to grow to a much larger size," Lindstrom said.
Joel Rosenblatt
For reprint rights or to order a copy of your photo:
Email
Jeremy_Ellis@dailyjournal.com
for prices.
Direct dial: 213-229-5424
Send a letter to the editor:
Email: letters@dailyjournal.com