Solo and Small Firms
Jun. 18, 2002
SMALL TALK
Brian Kabateck has taken three lawyers from Quisenberry & Kabateck to form The Kabateck Law Firm in Los Angeles, effective May 29. Kabateck has represented consumers in class action, earthquake and construction defect litigation during his 12-year career.
Kabateck has represented consumers in class action, earthquake and construction defect litigation during his 12-year career.
In related news, his former partner, John Quisenberry, dissolved Quisenberry & Kabateck and formed The Quisenberry Law Firm, also effective May 29.
With Kabateck's departure, the former Quisenberry & Kabateck firm remains mostly intact, Quisenberry says. It has 24 lawyers and focuses on insurance bad faith and construction defect litigation and consumer class actions.
"It wasn't much more than an administrative ripple," Quisenberry says of the name change and Kabateck's departure. "Our practice is unchanged."
The American Board of Criminal Lawyers has elected as a fellow Brian O'Neill, founding partner of Los Angeles' O'Neill Lysaght & Sun.
O'Neill, 61, is a veteran of more than 100 jury trials and specializes in white-collar criminal defense.
Last year, he won dismissal of a 25-count indictment against Waste Management Inc. over securities fraud and theft of trade secrets. He is representing a nonprofit voter registration group in a U.S. Justice Department investigation.
O'Neill is the former chief of the major frauds unit of the U.S. attorney's office in Los Angeles and was a partner with Manatt Phelps & Phillips. He opened his own firm in 1982.
The firm has 20 lawyers.
In the 1990s, O'Neill was deputy general counsel for the Webster Commission, which investigated the Los Angeles riots of 1992.
Membership to the American Board of Criminal Lawyers is restricted to lawyers who have tried at least 50 criminal trials.
Bartel Eng & Schroder, a nine-lawyer business and corporate firm in Sacramento, brought aboard the two-lawyer patent boutique Bernhard Kreten & Associates as of-counsel May 1.
Bernard Kreten, who represents mostly Sacramento-area clients in the technology and gaming industries, is the first patent lawyer to join Bartel Eng.
Kreten has practiced before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for more than 25 years, becoming a patent agent in 1973. He earned his law degree at Sacramento's McGeorge School of Law in 1988.
Partner Daniel Eng says Kreten's patent practice will complement Bartel Eng's corporate securities practice.
In West Los Angeles, the 24-lawyer business boutique Reish Luftman McDaniel & Reicher has acquired Cohen Primiani & Foster, a four-lawyer tax, estate planning and transactional firm in Century City.
The merger took effect June 1.
Lee Reicher, the firm's administrative partner, says the merger was ideal.
"We increased the depth of our existing legal services and added complementary services, such as international tax law, to offer our mutual client bases."
Reish Luftman, he says, is planning for additional growth and is seeking transactional lawyers.
"We're looking for another small firm, with three or four lawyers," Reicher says.
John Jameson and Sabina Skulsky of The Jameson Group in Beverly Hills brokered the deal.
On May 17, the Century City Chamber of Commerce Women's Business Council presented Stacy Phillips with its "Women of Achievement Award" for her accomplishments in family law and mediation.
Dr. Nancy Goldman, the council's chairwoman, says Phillips' "dedication and determination really stand out."
The council cited Phillips' work in resolving custody disputes and helping spouses and children deal with the stresses of divorce. Phillips, they added, also contributes to local nonprofits through her firm's Adopt-A-Center program, which selects a different charity to support each year.
Phillips is a partner in Phillips Lerner & Lauzon, a nine-attorney firm she founded in 1990. Over her career, she has represented Darcy LaPier, the former wife of actor Jean-Claude Van Damme; Erin Everly, the former wife of rock singer Axl Rose; and Darryl Strawberry, the former Yankees outfielder.
Phillips is also a frequent commentator on family law matters and was one of the authors of legislation that extended the statute of limitations for victims of domestic violence to sue their abusers.
Another frequent family law commentator, Robert Nachshin, announced May 22 that his six-lawyer firm, Nachshin & Weston, has moved to the World Savings Building in West Los Angeles.
Located at 11601 Wilshire Boulevard, the office is more than double the size of the firm's former space, at 11755 Wilshire Boulevard.
The firm, which specializes in family law, is best known for its representation of athletes and celebrities such as Barry Bonds, Gary Sheffield and Oscar de la Hoya and Rod Stewart's former wife, Alana Stewart.
Two attorneys joined San Diego litigation boutique Majors & Fox as of-counsel this spring.
Judith Wenker was the former head of the environmental practice group at Texaco Inc., which is now known as ChevronTexaco Corp. A 1976 graduate of the University of San Diego Law School, she has more than 20 years of experience in environmental compliance and has worked on Superfund and other contaminated property sites.
Andrew Greene was a senior associate at Gray Cary Ware & Freidenrich before joining Majors & Fox. At Gray Cary, he focused on complex business, tort, intellectual property, class action and real estate litigation. Majors & Fox Partner Gary Majors says Greene was not among those laid off in January at the tech-oriented Gary Cary.
Greene is a 1993 graduate of Hastings College of the Law.
The Contra Costa Council presented Walnut Creek's Archer Norris with its Contra Costa Medal at its annual installation of officers dinner June 13.
The council, which includes more than 400 public and private members, recognized the business and litigation firm for the pro bono work of Peter McGaw, who is of-counsel to the firm, and partner Ed Shaffer.
McGaw is chief legal counsel to the council, while Shaffer has been active in the group since 1998. Together, they have advised the council on issues ranging from brownfields to water and air quality, housing, employment, utilities and industrial safety.
Founded in 1936 as the Contra Costa Development Association, the council advocates on economic and quality of life issues in the East Bay.
Archer Norris has 48 lawyers in three California offices.
The K&R Foundation, a two-year-old charitable fund set up by Los Angeles' K&R Law Group, distributed $75,000 to three charities at its annual awards breakfast May 14.
The honorees include City Hearts, which provides an art program to needy children, the Eisner Pediatric and Family Medical Center, and the children's primary care program, Clinica Para Las Americas.
The foundation was set up by the business and litigation firm in 2000 and is supported by the annual K&R Foundation Annual Golf Tournament. This year's tournament will be held Oct. 28 at the Dwight D. Eisenhower Golf Course in Los Angeles County.
K&R Law Group has 50 lawyers in Los Angeles and Sacramento. It was formerly known as Konowiecki & Rank.
Erik Cummins
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