News
Law Practice
Aug. 13, 2002
Small Packages
Excuse the cliché, but sometimes good things do come in small packages. Take, for example, the nine California law firms profiled on the following pages. These sole practitioners and boutique practices rank among the best in their chosen legal specialties - and they do it without multiple offices, hundreds of attorneys and the bloated payrolls of their big-firm counterparts.
Excuse the cliché, but sometimes good things do come in small packages. Take, for example, the nine California law firms profiled on the following pages. These sole practitioners and boutique practices rank among the best in their chosen legal specialties - and they do it without multiple offices, hundreds of attorneys and the bloated payrolls of their big-firm counterparts.
The 12 trial attorneys at Rus, Miliband & Smith, for instance, are smack dab in the middle of Orange County's most high-profile business cases. Their work includes the county's 1996 bankruptcy and this year's drama surrounding failed mortgage lender First Alliance Corp., which has been the subject of multiple lawsuits and numerous investigative reports on its alleged predatory sales practices.
Then there's Ernest Spray Kinney, whose colorful personality and long list of courtroom victories make him a recognized, albeit controversial, leader of the Fresno criminal defense bar.
Meanwhile, the six real estate and land use attorneys at Harding, Larmore, Kutcher & Kozal, through their countless hours of pro bono work and community activism, have pushed through a minimum wage law in their city of Santa Monica, the first municipal law of its kind in the country.
Read on about these and other small-firm lawyers, the unsung heroes of the legal profession who prove once again that less is more.
Myman Abell
Myman, Abell, Fineman, Greenspan & Light has only 10 attorneys, but the Malibu transactional firm represents the largest names in entertainment.
"In the entertainment business, big firms tend to represent the money and the record companies, studios and networks. And the smaller, boutique-type firms represent the talent," name partner Robert Myman says.
Myman Abell's star-studded client list is long - very long.
The firm represents, among many others, actors Billy Bob Thornton, Benjamin Bratt, Greg Kinnear, John Ritter and up-and-comer Jaime King, plus music artists Doggy Dogg and Marilyn Manson.
The firm also represents Novato-based computer game maker Electronic Arts and pens deals for music companies like Dreamworks Records.
Myman Abell was founded in the late 1970s by Myman and Terry Shagin, who since has departed. Before that, Myman was a litigator at Los Angeles personal injury firm Rose, Klein & Marias.
But it was while in law school at the University of Southern California that he met and became friends with actor John Ritter. The friendship, which has lasted more than 25 years, broadened his horizons.
"I decided I wanted to spend more time with John, because he was the funniest guy I had ever met," Myman says.
An entertainment lawyer was born.
Myman teamed with Shagin, who represented the writing and directing team of David Zucker, Jim Abrahams and Jerry Zucker, who soon would make the blockbuster 1980 comedy "Airplane!"
The firm quickly added more lawyers, including partners Leslie Abell and Tom Fineman, who also came from Rose Klein. Partner Eric Greenspan joined from the Los Angeles office of now-defunct Finley, Kumble, Wagner, Heine, Underberg, Manley, Myerson & Casey.
Greenspan, whose clients include musicians Red Hot Chili Peppers and Jewel, says the small-firm model helps entertainment lawyers work with new, undiscovered artists, without the pressure to bill the artists for their time.
"You have to often work with bands and say, 'You know what, when your career gets going, I'll get paid,'" says Greenspan, who worked with both Jewel and the Chili Peppers before they jumped to the top of the music charts.
In the early days, Myman Abell steadily ramped up its entertainment work while continuing to service nonindustry clients. Abell, for one, says that during the first few years of his transition from litigation to entertainment transactions, he represented all kinds of businesses, from Ferrari dealers to art galleries.
And in the meantime, Abell says, "I was picking up entertainment clients and slowly transitioning out of the litigation field."
These days, all of Myman Abell's former litigators have abandoned the courtroom for pure-play business deals. Abell says the litigation experience was excellent preparation for deal making.
"We thought it was a good background, especially in negotiating contracts. We knew where the issues were, having litigated them," he says.
Myman Abell plans to stay small - at least small enough to keep up its weekly Tuesday firmwide meetings. Abell says the firm's size helps the lawyers give more personal attention to their clients.
"Our selling point is, 'Yeah, you're coming to us, and we're going to be doing the work,' which means we're here longer hours, we're here on Saturdays, but it's our competitive edge," he says.
A story in the August 12, 2002 issue of the Daily Journal EXTRA incorrectly stated the office location for Myman, Abell, Fineman, Greenspan & Light. The firm is located in Los Angeles.
The Daily Journal EXTRA regrets the error.
Winthrop Couchot
Enron, Worldcom, Kmart. Bankruptcy is booming again, and the 15 attorneys at Winthrop Couchot are in the thick of the action.
The Newport Beach insolvency boutique represents big business in Chapter 11 reorganizations and out-of-court workouts. To a lesser extent, it represents creditor committees and purchasers of assets in bankruptcy.
"It has to be a big-ticket case with a certain element of sophistication," managing partner Paul Couchot says of the firm's high-end practice.
Led by Couchot, the firm represents Winston Tires Co., one of the nation's largest retail tire chains with hundreds of stores throughout California, in its Chapter 11 reorganization. The Torrance-based company owes its creditors $50 million.
The firm, again led by Couchot, also represents L.L. Knickerbocker Co. in its Chapter 11. The Lake Forest company that, among other things, designs and manufacturers collectible dolls for the QVC shopping network, confirmed a reorganization plan in mid-July. The plan provides for straight liquidation of the once publicly traded company and a 50 percent distribution to unsecured creditors, whose claims at one point reached $30 million.
Winthrop Couchot has handled multimillion-dollar cases since it opened.
The firm is an offshoot of Lobel, Winthrop & O'Keefe, the prominent insolvency boutique whose eight-year run ended in 1995, causing quite a stir among the Orange County bankruptcy bar. The name partners - William Lobel, Mark Winthrop and Sean O'Keefe - splintered off, each forming his own firm.
Today, Winthrop Couchot is the only surviving firm among the three.
"We started off as the anti-Lobel firm," Couchot says of the firm's decidedly low-key approach. "Instead of starting off in a high-rise with a view and wearing $1,000 suits, we moved to a low-rise space and immediately went with casual attire."
That formula - sophisticated work without flash - has worked.
The firm, located in Newport Beach's Fashion Island, started with Winthrop and Couchot and two associates. It has grown quickly to more than two dozen attorneys, recruiting Lobel Winthrop expats such as O'Keefe and partner Robert Opera along the way.
It also has picked up Fortune 500 clients like fast-food giant McDonald's Corp., which the firm represents in asset acquisitions in bankruptcy cases throughout Southern California.
And the Winthrop Couchot lawyers, a nearly even split of partners and associates who prefer to spend their weekends at baseball games with their young children as opposed to laboring away in the office, regularly compete with the town's biggest firms while maintaining the quality of life associated with a small practice.
The boutique, according to Couchot, has more bankruptcy lawyers in Orange County than any national rival, including Irell & Manella, O'Melveny & Myers and Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher.
"We're bigger than Irell's department, bigger than O'Melveny's and bigger than Gibson's," he proudly says.
Ron Rouda sits down at the piano in his office and begins playing George Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue."
Rouda plays from memory and has a light, easy touch.
Rouda, 67, who often turns to his piano to unwind, explains that his lifetime dream was to play the Gershwin classic with an 18-piece orchestra.
The San Francisco trial lawyer got his wish last year, playing piano with an orchestra at a party for 300 friends, colleagues and dignitaries, including San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown.
Even though he says the event was a big success, Rouda has no intention of quitting his lucrative day job. A partner at the five-lawyer Rouda, Feder, Tietjen & Zanobini in San Francisco, he's won numerous multimillion-dollar verdicts and settlements for plaintiffs in catastrophic injury and wrongful-death cases.
He's also given back to the profession, according to Thomas Brandi, a San Francisco trial lawyer and president of the California Trial Lawyers Association.
"He's really an outstanding attorney," Brandi says. "He's also generous of his time, giving back to the community through the California Trial Lawyers Association and ABOTA [American Board of Trial Advocates]."
In 1992, Rouda was elected president of the state group and in 1998 president of the national group. He's a fellow in the 500-member International Academy of Trial Lawyers.
Rouda often teaches trial techniques at continuing education events throughout the country, and, in 1995, the national group named him the "California Trial Lawyer of the Year" in recognition of his many trial successes.
These days, Rouda represents Penny Whipple-Kelly, the mother of Diane Whipple, the victim in San Francisco's notorious dog mauling case. Whipple-Kelly is suing the owner of the building where the dogs were housed as well as the dogs' owners, Robert Noel and Marjorie Knoller. Whipple v. Koppl, 320382 (San Francisco Super. Ct., filed April 10, 2001). He's also suing the parents and insurance company of 27-year-old college student David Attias, who was convicted of second-degree murder for running over five people, four of whom were killed, on a Santa Barbara sidewalk Feb. 23, 2001. Levy v. Attias, BC 267707 (Los Angeles Super. Ct., filed Feb. 6, 2002).
On top of all that, he represents former KABC reporter Adrian Alpert, who was badly burned May 22, 2000, when an antenna in her news van touched a power line and electrocuted her. She is suing the manufacturer of the antenna mast and the manufacturer of the microwave transmitter for the injuries she sustained in the accident. Alpert v. Will-Burt Co., BC241788 (Los Angeles Super. Ct., filed Dec. 14, 2000).
Rouda began his career in 1960 working for legendary trial lawyer Marvin Lewis. In 1980, he formed his own firm, which shortly thereafter added John Feder and Tim Tietjen. Partner Mark Zanobini joined the firm in 1992.
Rouda says his experience playing the piano last year taught him a valuable lesson: "Whatever your dream is in your lifetime, go for it. It feels wonderful."
After 42 years in practice, Rouda says he can't envision retiring.
"As long as I'm able to compete and I'm healthy enough to do it, I'll do it," he says. "The wisdom of the years also doesn't hurt. You get perspective and a sense of the truth."
Ernest Spray Kinney is arguably one of the best criminal defense attorneys in the San Joaquin Valley. To hear him tell it, he's the best in the state if not the nation.
To make his point, the Fresno sole practitioner jots down a list of 10 murder cases he's won in recent years and challenges other high-profile lawyers to match his record.
"I'm on a pretty good roll," Kinney says.
He estimates he's tried 40 murder cases, winning all but five; a remarkable record in a profession that traditionally finds the prosecution winning more than it loses. All told, he says, he's probably tried 300 cases to verdict, although he lost count after 200.
This month, he has a trial in a special circumstances case, and five other murder cases are set for trial.
Michael Idiart, another local criminal defense lawyer, rates Kinney the top criminal defense lawyer, at least in the San Joaquin Valley.
"I don't know anybody better, although there might be somebody as good," Idiart says, admitting the two are friends and often work on cases together. "His record speaks for itself. He wins a good share of his trials, he can pull rabbits out of his hat and wins the cases he should win."
Kinney, 58, attributes his success to his ability to pick and persuade a jury and to the attention he pays to clients.
"The key is you have to care about your client," he says. "If you don't believe 1,000 percent in your client, how do you convince a jury?"
Kinney, who was jailed for five days in 1988 by a Fresno judge for his refusal to proceed with a murder trial, has made plenty of enemies in Fresno County, many of them townspeople who are outraged that he's freed defendants in some of the county's most notorious murder cases.
"Certain people don't like me, but they'll hire me when their son gets in trouble," he says with his typical bravado.
He points to a photo of a client hugging him after a courtroom victory.
"That's my pay," he adds.
Kinney says he was born to be a defense lawyer. In his first year in practice as a deputy public defender, the former Marine did get off to a quick start, winning his first three cases.
In 1978, just three years after graduating from San Joaquin College of Law, he represented David McGowen in Fresno's biggest murder case of the 1970s.
Looking back, Kinney says it was the toughest case of his career and impossible to win.
Kinney lost, and McGowen was convicted of murdering a local girl, but he says the case emboldened him to go on.
"After that, everything else seems easy," says Kinney, a former Fresno State College student body president and football player who represents Fresno State basketball players in point shaving accusations that surfaced in the late 1990s. (After a lengthy investigation, charges have not yet been filed.)
Kinney grew up in rural Bishop in the Eastern Sierras. On the other side of the mountains in the Valley, he appears larger-than-life; he takes media calls so often he's almost ubiquitous. He occasionally gets bashed in local newspapers for his aggressive behavior, and he has been described as a brash, loud, self-promoter - descriptions he doesn't deny.
He's also energetic, so much so that he takes Lithium to slow down.
"I'm a rebel," he says, pointing to a Confederate battle flag that stands among the Western art, Marine Corps memorabilia and Democratic Party relics that decorate his eccentric downtown Fresno office.
As far as the flag's negative connotations, he says, "I have lots of black clients. You think they care about the rebel flag? They know I'll fight for them. My job is to fight to the death for my clients."
Wagner Murabito
The three founders of San Jose's patent prosecution boutique Wagner, Murabito & Hao say they don't speak the same language as lawyers; they relate better to engineers, inventors and other tech "nerds" who have science backgrounds.
They'd rather play computer games than golf. Their conference rooms feature dry erase boards, not original art, and they sometimes find themselves wearing white socks under their slacks.
They're convinced they wouldn't fit in at big firms.
While still in their early 30s, the three friends - John Wagner Jr., Anthony Murabito and James Hao - formed their own firm in 1995.
Each has an engineering or physics degree and worked in the high-tech industry before going to law school. They also shared time at the much larger Blakely, Sokoloff, Taylor & Zafman, a Sunnyvale-based intellectual property boutique with 120 attorneys and eight offices.
Today, their little patent prosecution boutique has grown to 20 lawyers and patent agents and attracts Silicon Valley's best-known clients, including Sony Corporation of America, Palm Computing Inc., Cisco Systems Inc., Synopsys Inc., National Semiconductor Corp. and 3COM Corp.
"We hit the ground running," Murabito says of the firm's early success.
The success has continued despite the technology downturn, with the firm filing 50 to 60 patent applications a month.
"The last five years have been crazy, growthwise," Wagner says.
IP Today magazine acknowledged that quick expansion in 1999 when it named Wagner Murabito the nation's fastest-growing intellectual property firm.
And the firm, Murabito quickly adds, didn't put all its eggs in the dot-com basket. Instead, it has focused on the "less glamorous" portfolio-building side of the practice, counseling clients on which patents they should acquire, prosecute and license out.
Sticking to the niche proved to be a wise decision. Unlike some of its Silicon Valley competitors, which have been laying off lawyers since last year's dot-com crash, Wagner Murabito is "always in a hiring mode," Wagner says.
Fenwick & West, Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati and other large local firms often refer work to Wagner Murabito precisely because it specializes solely in patent work.
"They know we're not going to take their corporate clients and handle their transactional work," Wagner says.
Despite their symbiotic relationship with the area's big hitters, Wagner says patent specialists often are treated like "an ugly stepchild" at large firms.
"Business attorneys often view patent departments as a support team," Murabito says. "What patent attorneys really want is their own client list."
So, while large firms are gobbling up patent shops - the most recent acquisition occurred in May, when the 800-lawyer Dorsey & Whitney picked up the San Francisco's 27-lawyer Flehr, Hohbach, Test, Albritton & Herbert - Wagner says that's not going to happen to Wagner Murabito.
"Someone will buy us a nice lunch, and we'll see where it's going," he says of merger talks. "We've never been interested, and they can tell."
Harding Larmore
At 100 square feet, the little playhouse standing in David Levy's backyard has sparked big controversy in the upscale, beachside town of Santa Monica.
It also has pitted land use lawyer Christopher Harding - a name partner at real estate boutique Harding, Larmore, Kutcher & Kozal - against city officials.
"Important issues often come wrapped in small packages,' Harding says.
Two years ago, Levy obtained city approval to erect the 12-foot-high playhouse for his 5-year-old son, Jacob. After the playhouse was built and anchored in concrete, a neighbor living directly behind Levy complained that it was too close to her home, and she went straight to her friend, Santa Monica Mayor Ken Genser.
When Levy was ordered to tear down or move the house, Harding opted to fight City Hall - for free.
"He was being mistreated," Harding says of Levy. "My firm came onboard to try to protect people from the political favoritism that took place here.'
Harding sued the city. In response, the city filed an anti-SLAPP motion, claiming that Levy's suit was a strategic lawsuit against public participation that suppressed the city's free speech rights. A trial court overruled the motion, and today, the case is on appeal before the 2nd District Court of Appeal.
Harding, 50, takes great pride in the pro bono case.
"We put something like 1,000 hours into the playhouse case,' he says.
The so-called playhouse case isn't the first time Santa Monica City Attorney Marsha Moutrie has been up against Harding and his partners.
"I've been [the city attorney] for nine years, and this firm represents more clients who file complaints and lawsuits against the city than anyone else,' Moutrie says.
Moutrie adds, however, that Harding is a "respected adversary' and that, while she and he may disagree often, the Harding Larmore lawyers represent their clients' interests very well.
Those clients are a wide range of businesses throughout Santa Monica and Los Angeles, from nationally ranked St. John's Health Center to the upscale eatery Lobster Restaurant.
From their Santa Monica law offices near the 3rd Street Promenade, the four partners and two associates of Harding Larmore do nothing but pure-play real estate work.
Harding and partners Kenneth Kutcher and Laurie Lieberman handle land use, zoning and litigation matters for developers and major property owners. Partner Tom Larmore concentrates on real estate finance, representing institutional lenders such as Bank of America and United California Bank. And Kevin Kozal specializes in transactional work like property acquisitions.
Aside from their paying cases, the lawyers dedicate endless hours to pro bono cases like the little playhouse. Their volunteer work has earned them numerous awards.
Harding and Kutcher were honored last year for providing free legal services to Upward Bound House, a nonprofit organization that houses elderly and low-income people. Also last year, the Santa Monica Chamber of Commerce honored Larmore for his pro bono efforts that helped pass Santa Monica's living wage ordinance, the first of its kind in the nation, forcing large businesses to pay workers a minimum hourly wage of $10.50.
For the Record
In a story about Harding Larmore published on August 12, 2002 the Daily Journal EXTRA incorrectly stated that attorney Tom Larmore helped pass Santa Monica's living-wage ordinance. In fact, he worked with local business owners and merchants to oppose the ordinance and led a successful drive to put a referendum of the ordinance on the city's November ballot.
The Daily Journal EXTRA regrets the error.
Rus Miliband
Name any headline-grabbing, bet-the-company case in Orange County, and the 12 trial attorneys of Rus, Miliband & Smith are surely involved.
From the 1980s Lincoln Savings & Loan scandal and the county's 1996 bankruptcy to this year's downfall of First Alliance Corp., the business boutique dares to go where only big firms tread.
"We would match our success rate and problem-solving capabilities with any national firm," name partner Ron Rus says confidently.
Rus, 52, has every reason to be confident.
Since starting his firm in 1992 with partners Joel Miliband and Randy Smith, the man who waited tables while in law school has had the area's top corporate leaders calling him when they're in a jam.
William Popejoy is one of them.
Rus represented the high-profile financier and former Orange County chief executive officer in his lawsuit against the owners of the Balboa Bay Club. Popejoy accused the owners of reneging on a $73 million deal to sell him controlling interest in the waterfront property in Newport Beach. The suit settled in February for a confidential sum. Popejoy v. Ray, 00CC00058 (Orange County Super. Ct., filed May 31, 2000).
"He just did a masterful job," Popejoy says of Rus' performance, adding that Rus could run circles around any big firm.
"When it comes down to a case, it's the horse you have in the race, not the number in the stable," Popejoy says.
Then there's Brian Chisick, the former First Alliance chairman who has spent much of the past year embroiled in controversy.
Chisick was hit with multiple lawsuits after the dubious sales tactics of his Irvine-based mortgage lender, First Alliance, made it the subject of scathing investigative reports by ABC News and The New York Times. Suits from the Federal Trade Commission and six states, among others, soon followed, forcing the mortgage lender into bankruptcy.
Rus, along with Smith, hammered out a settlement in March in which Chisick will pay $20 million in restitution, not too shabby considering Chisick's company allegedly defrauded 18,000 borrowers of $217 million. (First Alliance, represented by a different firm, has agreed to pay $40 million to the victims.)
But it's the Orange County bankruptcy for which Rus is probably best known. He obtained the release of nearly $100 million owed to his clients, consisting of a variety of water districts and several local cities, including Newport Beach, in the nation's largest municipal bankruptcy.
While it's easy to get caught up in Rus' lucrative client roster, sun-kissed good looks and polished personality, he doesn't grab all the attention at his Newport Beach firm.
Miliband is a member of the State Bar Board of Governors and former president of the 7,000-member Orange County Bar Association; Smith is defending the world's largest automobile wholesaler against a $41 million class action by consumers alleging unfair business practices. Shuster v. California Auto Dealers Exchange, 01CC00336 (Orange County Super. Ct., filed July 18, 2001); and partner Laurel Zaeske was a primary attorney on the Lincoln Savings & Loan case, in which the firm helped win $400 million for bondholders of the collapsed savings and loan in 1992.
It's the accomplishments of all the lawyers, according to Rus, that make Rus Miliband among the elite business litigation firms in Southern California.
"I'm surrounded by lawyers who make me look good," he proudly says.
O'Reilly Collins
Over the years, San Mateo personal injury firm O'Reilly, Collins & Danko has racked up dozens of multimillion-dollar verdicts and settlements. Last month, it scored one of its most unusual wins.
A San Francisco judge added an eye-popping $5.2 million to a $713,000 jury verdict for the pain and suffering of the firm's client, a woman who was hurt in a snowboarding accident.
The ruling is rare in a system in which, when juries verdicts are changed by a judge, they usually shrink, not expand. Vine v. Bear Valley Ski Co., 317766 (San Francisco Super. Ct., May 6, 2002).
Although the eight-lawyer firm has big-ticket cases in many areas, including personal injury and product liability, O'Reilly Collins is best known for its aviation practice.
Firm founder Terry O'Reilly has represented victims in hundreds of aircraft accidents, beginning in 1974 when he represented several victims' families in a DC-10 crash in Paris.
Today, the 15-year-old firm has its hand in the industry's biggest crashes, including the July 25, 2000, Concorde crash in France and the American Airlines Flight 587 crash in Belle Harbor, N.Y, in November.
In most of the firm's aviation cases, defendants include the airlines, who are accused of such things as poor maintenance, and manufacturers, who allegedly produce defective planes and parts.
O'Reilly Collins spends even more time working on small aircraft cases.
"We do everything from balloons to ultralights," O'Reilly says.
Ten years ago, the firm recorded the nation's largest small-craft settlement at the time, when former Silicon Valley Chief Executive Officer Dennis Paboojian of Rolm Corp. was awarded $32 million for the injuries he sustained when his Piper Malibu crashed in 1987.
Paboojian suffered burns to 62 percent of his body and lost his left forearm, right hand, nose, ears and most of his facial features. Paboojian v. Teledyne Continental Motors, 654490 (Santa Clara Super. Ct., June 3, 1989).
The firm has taken hundreds of small-craft cases since then. Recently, it won a $6 million verdict against Livermore for three victims of a helicopter accident in that city. Dixon v. City of Livermore, OV771269-8 (Alameda Super. Ct., June 18, 2002).
In April, O'Reilly Collins filed one of the country's first "deep vein thrombosis" cases, a condition identified in medical journals late last year. Some passengers, the firm contends, suffer from blood clots and later strokes and heart attacks after taking long international flights sitting in cramped, poorly designed seats. Again, defendants include manufacturers and airlines.
Despite its high-profile cases, Danko says O'Reilly Collins isn't bound to big-ticket personal injury and wrongful-death litigation.
Late last year, for instance, the firm won a $10 million verdict in a breach of fiduciary duty case against South Bay developer Barry Swenson. Denevi v. Green Valley Corp., 784721 (Santa Clara Super. Ct., Nov. 27, 2001).
Still, the firm's aviation practice remains at the fore.
Among the 20 to 30 firms that specialize in plaintiffs' aviation law nationwide, O'Reilly Collins rates among the very best, says Ned Good, a founding partner of Pasadena aviation practice Good, West & Schuetze.
Perhaps it is O'Reilly Collins' attention to detail that brings in the big wins. O'Reilly, who has been trained as an accident investigator, personally visits crash sites and sifts through evidence.
It may seem morbid, but, he explains, "You can't really try a case without knowing what the scene looked like."
Ira Rothken
Ira Rothken considers himself the Forrest Gump of law. Almost by accident, he says, he's been at the right place at the right time.
Within a year of opening his own office in 1993 in Corte Madera, the former San Mateo insurance defense lawyer found himself in the increasingly lucrative high-tech world, doing corporate and litigation work for friends who were opening their own video game startups.
When the Internet began to take off in the mid-1990s, his multimedia friends started online businesses and began handing him groundbreaking intellectual property cases.
As a result, Rothken, 39, became a known expert in the field, appearing regularly in major newspapers and television shows and getting cases that test the limits of Internet law.
"It was an accident," he says of his intellectual property practice, which makes up 60 percent of his caseload of 50 active cases. The rest consists of general civil litigation and transactional work.
"I guess the notion that I was able to make a practice out of it was a sign of the times," he says. "I was very lucky."
Judy Jennison, an intellectual property litigation partner in Perkins Coie's San Francisco office, says Rothken's cases are often on the cutting edge of Internet law.
"He's in the thick of things," Jennison says simply.
As a solo representing mostly small tech companies, Rothken takes cases that "stick up" for the evolution of technology.
"I also like protecting consumer privacy and fair use rights," he says.
One of his cases did just that.
The Doubleclick case, one of the nation's first Internet consumer privacy cases, alleged that DoubleClick Inc., a New York Internet advertising company, had trampled on people's privacy rights by tracking their online movements so it could target advertising to individual consumers.
The case settled in favor of Rothken's client, an Internet user who had DoubleClick cookies and Web bugs placed on her computer. DoubleClick now must ask permission before it follows Web surfers' movements. Judnick v. Doubleclick, CV-000421 (Marin Super. Ct. Jan. 26, 2001).
In another cutting-edge case, Rothken represents the owners of the ReplayTV device in a suit against major entertainment companies. The suit is asking the federal court to declare that ReplayTV owners have the right to record television shows and skip commercials using the device. Newmark v. Turner Broadcasting, CV02-04445 (C.D. Cal. June 6, 2002).
The case, he says, "could have profound implications not only on the evolution of recording technology but also on consumer rights to record programs in their own homes."
The issue in Turner Broadcasting is whether movie and television companies can enjoin technology "because some people may be using that technology to do illegal things," he says.
A third case may test the limits of what the Internet can and cannot do. Arista Records v. MP3Board Inc., 00 Civ.4660 (S.D.N.Y. July 17, 2000).
In MP3Board, a federal court must decide whether search engines are liable for contributory copyright infringement when they link to other sites.
Rothken, who represents the Santa Cruz search engine MP3 Board, believes the case could lead to paralysis on the Internet if search engines are required to ask permission of Web sites every time they provide hyperlinks.
Jeffrey Knowles, a San Francisco intellectual property lawyer with Coblentz, Patch, Duffy & Bass who's facing off against Rothken in the MP3Board case, isn't surprised that Rothken is in the middle of so many high-stakes technology battles.
"Ira finds his way into cutting-edge cases, one way or another," he says.
The 12 trial attorneys at Rus, Miliband & Smith, for instance, are smack dab in the middle of Orange County's most high-profile business cases. Their work includes the county's 1996 bankruptcy and this year's drama surrounding failed mortgage lender First Alliance Corp., which has been the subject of multiple lawsuits and numerous investigative reports on its alleged predatory sales practices.
Then there's Ernest Spray Kinney, whose colorful personality and long list of courtroom victories make him a recognized, albeit controversial, leader of the Fresno criminal defense bar.
Meanwhile, the six real estate and land use attorneys at Harding, Larmore, Kutcher & Kozal, through their countless hours of pro bono work and community activism, have pushed through a minimum wage law in their city of Santa Monica, the first municipal law of its kind in the country.
Read on about these and other small-firm lawyers, the unsung heroes of the legal profession who prove once again that less is more.
Myman Abell
Myman, Abell, Fineman, Greenspan & Light has only 10 attorneys, but the Malibu transactional firm represents the largest names in entertainment.
"In the entertainment business, big firms tend to represent the money and the record companies, studios and networks. And the smaller, boutique-type firms represent the talent," name partner Robert Myman says.
Myman Abell's star-studded client list is long - very long.
The firm represents, among many others, actors Billy Bob Thornton, Benjamin Bratt, Greg Kinnear, John Ritter and up-and-comer Jaime King, plus music artists Doggy Dogg and Marilyn Manson.
The firm also represents Novato-based computer game maker Electronic Arts and pens deals for music companies like Dreamworks Records.
Myman Abell was founded in the late 1970s by Myman and Terry Shagin, who since has departed. Before that, Myman was a litigator at Los Angeles personal injury firm Rose, Klein & Marias.
But it was while in law school at the University of Southern California that he met and became friends with actor John Ritter. The friendship, which has lasted more than 25 years, broadened his horizons.
"I decided I wanted to spend more time with John, because he was the funniest guy I had ever met," Myman says.
An entertainment lawyer was born.
Myman teamed with Shagin, who represented the writing and directing team of David Zucker, Jim Abrahams and Jerry Zucker, who soon would make the blockbuster 1980 comedy "Airplane!"
The firm quickly added more lawyers, including partners Leslie Abell and Tom Fineman, who also came from Rose Klein. Partner Eric Greenspan joined from the Los Angeles office of now-defunct Finley, Kumble, Wagner, Heine, Underberg, Manley, Myerson & Casey.
Greenspan, whose clients include musicians Red Hot Chili Peppers and Jewel, says the small-firm model helps entertainment lawyers work with new, undiscovered artists, without the pressure to bill the artists for their time.
"You have to often work with bands and say, 'You know what, when your career gets going, I'll get paid,'" says Greenspan, who worked with both Jewel and the Chili Peppers before they jumped to the top of the music charts.
In the early days, Myman Abell steadily ramped up its entertainment work while continuing to service nonindustry clients. Abell, for one, says that during the first few years of his transition from litigation to entertainment transactions, he represented all kinds of businesses, from Ferrari dealers to art galleries.
And in the meantime, Abell says, "I was picking up entertainment clients and slowly transitioning out of the litigation field."
These days, all of Myman Abell's former litigators have abandoned the courtroom for pure-play business deals. Abell says the litigation experience was excellent preparation for deal making.
"We thought it was a good background, especially in negotiating contracts. We knew where the issues were, having litigated them," he says.
Myman Abell plans to stay small - at least small enough to keep up its weekly Tuesday firmwide meetings. Abell says the firm's size helps the lawyers give more personal attention to their clients.
"Our selling point is, 'Yeah, you're coming to us, and we're going to be doing the work,' which means we're here longer hours, we're here on Saturdays, but it's our competitive edge," he says.
- Katherine Gaidos
A story in the August 12, 2002 issue of the Daily Journal EXTRA incorrectly stated the office location for Myman, Abell, Fineman, Greenspan & Light. The firm is located in Los Angeles.
The Daily Journal EXTRA regrets the error.
Winthrop Couchot
Enron, Worldcom, Kmart. Bankruptcy is booming again, and the 15 attorneys at Winthrop Couchot are in the thick of the action.
The Newport Beach insolvency boutique represents big business in Chapter 11 reorganizations and out-of-court workouts. To a lesser extent, it represents creditor committees and purchasers of assets in bankruptcy.
"It has to be a big-ticket case with a certain element of sophistication," managing partner Paul Couchot says of the firm's high-end practice.
Led by Couchot, the firm represents Winston Tires Co., one of the nation's largest retail tire chains with hundreds of stores throughout California, in its Chapter 11 reorganization. The Torrance-based company owes its creditors $50 million.
The firm, again led by Couchot, also represents L.L. Knickerbocker Co. in its Chapter 11. The Lake Forest company that, among other things, designs and manufacturers collectible dolls for the QVC shopping network, confirmed a reorganization plan in mid-July. The plan provides for straight liquidation of the once publicly traded company and a 50 percent distribution to unsecured creditors, whose claims at one point reached $30 million.
Winthrop Couchot has handled multimillion-dollar cases since it opened.
The firm is an offshoot of Lobel, Winthrop & O'Keefe, the prominent insolvency boutique whose eight-year run ended in 1995, causing quite a stir among the Orange County bankruptcy bar. The name partners - William Lobel, Mark Winthrop and Sean O'Keefe - splintered off, each forming his own firm.
Today, Winthrop Couchot is the only surviving firm among the three.
"We started off as the anti-Lobel firm," Couchot says of the firm's decidedly low-key approach. "Instead of starting off in a high-rise with a view and wearing $1,000 suits, we moved to a low-rise space and immediately went with casual attire."
That formula - sophisticated work without flash - has worked.
The firm, located in Newport Beach's Fashion Island, started with Winthrop and Couchot and two associates. It has grown quickly to more than two dozen attorneys, recruiting Lobel Winthrop expats such as O'Keefe and partner Robert Opera along the way.
It also has picked up Fortune 500 clients like fast-food giant McDonald's Corp., which the firm represents in asset acquisitions in bankruptcy cases throughout Southern California.
And the Winthrop Couchot lawyers, a nearly even split of partners and associates who prefer to spend their weekends at baseball games with their young children as opposed to laboring away in the office, regularly compete with the town's biggest firms while maintaining the quality of life associated with a small practice.
The boutique, according to Couchot, has more bankruptcy lawyers in Orange County than any national rival, including Irell & Manella, O'Melveny & Myers and Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher.
"We're bigger than Irell's department, bigger than O'Melveny's and bigger than Gibson's," he proudly says.
- Tanya Vince Rothman
Rouda FederRon Rouda sits down at the piano in his office and begins playing George Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue."
Rouda plays from memory and has a light, easy touch.
Rouda, 67, who often turns to his piano to unwind, explains that his lifetime dream was to play the Gershwin classic with an 18-piece orchestra.
The San Francisco trial lawyer got his wish last year, playing piano with an orchestra at a party for 300 friends, colleagues and dignitaries, including San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown.
Even though he says the event was a big success, Rouda has no intention of quitting his lucrative day job. A partner at the five-lawyer Rouda, Feder, Tietjen & Zanobini in San Francisco, he's won numerous multimillion-dollar verdicts and settlements for plaintiffs in catastrophic injury and wrongful-death cases.
He's also given back to the profession, according to Thomas Brandi, a San Francisco trial lawyer and president of the California Trial Lawyers Association.
"He's really an outstanding attorney," Brandi says. "He's also generous of his time, giving back to the community through the California Trial Lawyers Association and ABOTA [American Board of Trial Advocates]."
In 1992, Rouda was elected president of the state group and in 1998 president of the national group. He's a fellow in the 500-member International Academy of Trial Lawyers.
Rouda often teaches trial techniques at continuing education events throughout the country, and, in 1995, the national group named him the "California Trial Lawyer of the Year" in recognition of his many trial successes.
These days, Rouda represents Penny Whipple-Kelly, the mother of Diane Whipple, the victim in San Francisco's notorious dog mauling case. Whipple-Kelly is suing the owner of the building where the dogs were housed as well as the dogs' owners, Robert Noel and Marjorie Knoller. Whipple v. Koppl, 320382 (San Francisco Super. Ct., filed April 10, 2001). He's also suing the parents and insurance company of 27-year-old college student David Attias, who was convicted of second-degree murder for running over five people, four of whom were killed, on a Santa Barbara sidewalk Feb. 23, 2001. Levy v. Attias, BC 267707 (Los Angeles Super. Ct., filed Feb. 6, 2002).
On top of all that, he represents former KABC reporter Adrian Alpert, who was badly burned May 22, 2000, when an antenna in her news van touched a power line and electrocuted her. She is suing the manufacturer of the antenna mast and the manufacturer of the microwave transmitter for the injuries she sustained in the accident. Alpert v. Will-Burt Co., BC241788 (Los Angeles Super. Ct., filed Dec. 14, 2000).
Rouda began his career in 1960 working for legendary trial lawyer Marvin Lewis. In 1980, he formed his own firm, which shortly thereafter added John Feder and Tim Tietjen. Partner Mark Zanobini joined the firm in 1992.
Rouda says his experience playing the piano last year taught him a valuable lesson: "Whatever your dream is in your lifetime, go for it. It feels wonderful."
After 42 years in practice, Rouda says he can't envision retiring.
"As long as I'm able to compete and I'm healthy enough to do it, I'll do it," he says. "The wisdom of the years also doesn't hurt. You get perspective and a sense of the truth."
- Erik Cummins
Ernest Spray KinneyErnest Spray Kinney is arguably one of the best criminal defense attorneys in the San Joaquin Valley. To hear him tell it, he's the best in the state if not the nation.
To make his point, the Fresno sole practitioner jots down a list of 10 murder cases he's won in recent years and challenges other high-profile lawyers to match his record.
"I'm on a pretty good roll," Kinney says.
He estimates he's tried 40 murder cases, winning all but five; a remarkable record in a profession that traditionally finds the prosecution winning more than it loses. All told, he says, he's probably tried 300 cases to verdict, although he lost count after 200.
This month, he has a trial in a special circumstances case, and five other murder cases are set for trial.
Michael Idiart, another local criminal defense lawyer, rates Kinney the top criminal defense lawyer, at least in the San Joaquin Valley.
"I don't know anybody better, although there might be somebody as good," Idiart says, admitting the two are friends and often work on cases together. "His record speaks for itself. He wins a good share of his trials, he can pull rabbits out of his hat and wins the cases he should win."
Kinney, 58, attributes his success to his ability to pick and persuade a jury and to the attention he pays to clients.
"The key is you have to care about your client," he says. "If you don't believe 1,000 percent in your client, how do you convince a jury?"
Kinney, who was jailed for five days in 1988 by a Fresno judge for his refusal to proceed with a murder trial, has made plenty of enemies in Fresno County, many of them townspeople who are outraged that he's freed defendants in some of the county's most notorious murder cases.
"Certain people don't like me, but they'll hire me when their son gets in trouble," he says with his typical bravado.
He points to a photo of a client hugging him after a courtroom victory.
"That's my pay," he adds.
Kinney says he was born to be a defense lawyer. In his first year in practice as a deputy public defender, the former Marine did get off to a quick start, winning his first three cases.
In 1978, just three years after graduating from San Joaquin College of Law, he represented David McGowen in Fresno's biggest murder case of the 1970s.
Looking back, Kinney says it was the toughest case of his career and impossible to win.
Kinney lost, and McGowen was convicted of murdering a local girl, but he says the case emboldened him to go on.
"After that, everything else seems easy," says Kinney, a former Fresno State College student body president and football player who represents Fresno State basketball players in point shaving accusations that surfaced in the late 1990s. (After a lengthy investigation, charges have not yet been filed.)
Kinney grew up in rural Bishop in the Eastern Sierras. On the other side of the mountains in the Valley, he appears larger-than-life; he takes media calls so often he's almost ubiquitous. He occasionally gets bashed in local newspapers for his aggressive behavior, and he has been described as a brash, loud, self-promoter - descriptions he doesn't deny.
He's also energetic, so much so that he takes Lithium to slow down.
"I'm a rebel," he says, pointing to a Confederate battle flag that stands among the Western art, Marine Corps memorabilia and Democratic Party relics that decorate his eccentric downtown Fresno office.
As far as the flag's negative connotations, he says, "I have lots of black clients. You think they care about the rebel flag? They know I'll fight for them. My job is to fight to the death for my clients."
- Erik Cummins
Wagner Murabito
The three founders of San Jose's patent prosecution boutique Wagner, Murabito & Hao say they don't speak the same language as lawyers; they relate better to engineers, inventors and other tech "nerds" who have science backgrounds.
They'd rather play computer games than golf. Their conference rooms feature dry erase boards, not original art, and they sometimes find themselves wearing white socks under their slacks.
They're convinced they wouldn't fit in at big firms.
While still in their early 30s, the three friends - John Wagner Jr., Anthony Murabito and James Hao - formed their own firm in 1995.
Each has an engineering or physics degree and worked in the high-tech industry before going to law school. They also shared time at the much larger Blakely, Sokoloff, Taylor & Zafman, a Sunnyvale-based intellectual property boutique with 120 attorneys and eight offices.
Today, their little patent prosecution boutique has grown to 20 lawyers and patent agents and attracts Silicon Valley's best-known clients, including Sony Corporation of America, Palm Computing Inc., Cisco Systems Inc., Synopsys Inc., National Semiconductor Corp. and 3COM Corp.
"We hit the ground running," Murabito says of the firm's early success.
The success has continued despite the technology downturn, with the firm filing 50 to 60 patent applications a month.
"The last five years have been crazy, growthwise," Wagner says.
IP Today magazine acknowledged that quick expansion in 1999 when it named Wagner Murabito the nation's fastest-growing intellectual property firm.
And the firm, Murabito quickly adds, didn't put all its eggs in the dot-com basket. Instead, it has focused on the "less glamorous" portfolio-building side of the practice, counseling clients on which patents they should acquire, prosecute and license out.
Sticking to the niche proved to be a wise decision. Unlike some of its Silicon Valley competitors, which have been laying off lawyers since last year's dot-com crash, Wagner Murabito is "always in a hiring mode," Wagner says.
Fenwick & West, Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati and other large local firms often refer work to Wagner Murabito precisely because it specializes solely in patent work.
"They know we're not going to take their corporate clients and handle their transactional work," Wagner says.
Despite their symbiotic relationship with the area's big hitters, Wagner says patent specialists often are treated like "an ugly stepchild" at large firms.
"Business attorneys often view patent departments as a support team," Murabito says. "What patent attorneys really want is their own client list."
So, while large firms are gobbling up patent shops - the most recent acquisition occurred in May, when the 800-lawyer Dorsey & Whitney picked up the San Francisco's 27-lawyer Flehr, Hohbach, Test, Albritton & Herbert - Wagner says that's not going to happen to Wagner Murabito.
"Someone will buy us a nice lunch, and we'll see where it's going," he says of merger talks. "We've never been interested, and they can tell."
- Erik Cummins
Harding Larmore
At 100 square feet, the little playhouse standing in David Levy's backyard has sparked big controversy in the upscale, beachside town of Santa Monica.
It also has pitted land use lawyer Christopher Harding - a name partner at real estate boutique Harding, Larmore, Kutcher & Kozal - against city officials.
"Important issues often come wrapped in small packages,' Harding says.
Two years ago, Levy obtained city approval to erect the 12-foot-high playhouse for his 5-year-old son, Jacob. After the playhouse was built and anchored in concrete, a neighbor living directly behind Levy complained that it was too close to her home, and she went straight to her friend, Santa Monica Mayor Ken Genser.
When Levy was ordered to tear down or move the house, Harding opted to fight City Hall - for free.
"He was being mistreated," Harding says of Levy. "My firm came onboard to try to protect people from the political favoritism that took place here.'
Harding sued the city. In response, the city filed an anti-SLAPP motion, claiming that Levy's suit was a strategic lawsuit against public participation that suppressed the city's free speech rights. A trial court overruled the motion, and today, the case is on appeal before the 2nd District Court of Appeal.
Harding, 50, takes great pride in the pro bono case.
"We put something like 1,000 hours into the playhouse case,' he says.
The so-called playhouse case isn't the first time Santa Monica City Attorney Marsha Moutrie has been up against Harding and his partners.
"I've been [the city attorney] for nine years, and this firm represents more clients who file complaints and lawsuits against the city than anyone else,' Moutrie says.
Moutrie adds, however, that Harding is a "respected adversary' and that, while she and he may disagree often, the Harding Larmore lawyers represent their clients' interests very well.
Those clients are a wide range of businesses throughout Santa Monica and Los Angeles, from nationally ranked St. John's Health Center to the upscale eatery Lobster Restaurant.
From their Santa Monica law offices near the 3rd Street Promenade, the four partners and two associates of Harding Larmore do nothing but pure-play real estate work.
Harding and partners Kenneth Kutcher and Laurie Lieberman handle land use, zoning and litigation matters for developers and major property owners. Partner Tom Larmore concentrates on real estate finance, representing institutional lenders such as Bank of America and United California Bank. And Kevin Kozal specializes in transactional work like property acquisitions.
Aside from their paying cases, the lawyers dedicate endless hours to pro bono cases like the little playhouse. Their volunteer work has earned them numerous awards.
Harding and Kutcher were honored last year for providing free legal services to Upward Bound House, a nonprofit organization that houses elderly and low-income people. Also last year, the Santa Monica Chamber of Commerce honored Larmore for his pro bono efforts that helped pass Santa Monica's living wage ordinance, the first of its kind in the nation, forcing large businesses to pay workers a minimum hourly wage of $10.50.
- Donna Huffaker
For the Record
In a story about Harding Larmore published on August 12, 2002 the Daily Journal EXTRA incorrectly stated that attorney Tom Larmore helped pass Santa Monica's living-wage ordinance. In fact, he worked with local business owners and merchants to oppose the ordinance and led a successful drive to put a referendum of the ordinance on the city's November ballot.
The Daily Journal EXTRA regrets the error.
Rus Miliband
Name any headline-grabbing, bet-the-company case in Orange County, and the 12 trial attorneys of Rus, Miliband & Smith are surely involved.
From the 1980s Lincoln Savings & Loan scandal and the county's 1996 bankruptcy to this year's downfall of First Alliance Corp., the business boutique dares to go where only big firms tread.
"We would match our success rate and problem-solving capabilities with any national firm," name partner Ron Rus says confidently.
Rus, 52, has every reason to be confident.
Since starting his firm in 1992 with partners Joel Miliband and Randy Smith, the man who waited tables while in law school has had the area's top corporate leaders calling him when they're in a jam.
William Popejoy is one of them.
Rus represented the high-profile financier and former Orange County chief executive officer in his lawsuit against the owners of the Balboa Bay Club. Popejoy accused the owners of reneging on a $73 million deal to sell him controlling interest in the waterfront property in Newport Beach. The suit settled in February for a confidential sum. Popejoy v. Ray, 00CC00058 (Orange County Super. Ct., filed May 31, 2000).
"He just did a masterful job," Popejoy says of Rus' performance, adding that Rus could run circles around any big firm.
"When it comes down to a case, it's the horse you have in the race, not the number in the stable," Popejoy says.
Then there's Brian Chisick, the former First Alliance chairman who has spent much of the past year embroiled in controversy.
Chisick was hit with multiple lawsuits after the dubious sales tactics of his Irvine-based mortgage lender, First Alliance, made it the subject of scathing investigative reports by ABC News and The New York Times. Suits from the Federal Trade Commission and six states, among others, soon followed, forcing the mortgage lender into bankruptcy.
Rus, along with Smith, hammered out a settlement in March in which Chisick will pay $20 million in restitution, not too shabby considering Chisick's company allegedly defrauded 18,000 borrowers of $217 million. (First Alliance, represented by a different firm, has agreed to pay $40 million to the victims.)
But it's the Orange County bankruptcy for which Rus is probably best known. He obtained the release of nearly $100 million owed to his clients, consisting of a variety of water districts and several local cities, including Newport Beach, in the nation's largest municipal bankruptcy.
While it's easy to get caught up in Rus' lucrative client roster, sun-kissed good looks and polished personality, he doesn't grab all the attention at his Newport Beach firm.
Miliband is a member of the State Bar Board of Governors and former president of the 7,000-member Orange County Bar Association; Smith is defending the world's largest automobile wholesaler against a $41 million class action by consumers alleging unfair business practices. Shuster v. California Auto Dealers Exchange, 01CC00336 (Orange County Super. Ct., filed July 18, 2001); and partner Laurel Zaeske was a primary attorney on the Lincoln Savings & Loan case, in which the firm helped win $400 million for bondholders of the collapsed savings and loan in 1992.
It's the accomplishments of all the lawyers, according to Rus, that make Rus Miliband among the elite business litigation firms in Southern California.
"I'm surrounded by lawyers who make me look good," he proudly says.
- Tanya Vince Rothman
O'Reilly Collins
Over the years, San Mateo personal injury firm O'Reilly, Collins & Danko has racked up dozens of multimillion-dollar verdicts and settlements. Last month, it scored one of its most unusual wins.
A San Francisco judge added an eye-popping $5.2 million to a $713,000 jury verdict for the pain and suffering of the firm's client, a woman who was hurt in a snowboarding accident.
The ruling is rare in a system in which, when juries verdicts are changed by a judge, they usually shrink, not expand. Vine v. Bear Valley Ski Co., 317766 (San Francisco Super. Ct., May 6, 2002).
Although the eight-lawyer firm has big-ticket cases in many areas, including personal injury and product liability, O'Reilly Collins is best known for its aviation practice.
Firm founder Terry O'Reilly has represented victims in hundreds of aircraft accidents, beginning in 1974 when he represented several victims' families in a DC-10 crash in Paris.
Today, the 15-year-old firm has its hand in the industry's biggest crashes, including the July 25, 2000, Concorde crash in France and the American Airlines Flight 587 crash in Belle Harbor, N.Y, in November.
In most of the firm's aviation cases, defendants include the airlines, who are accused of such things as poor maintenance, and manufacturers, who allegedly produce defective planes and parts.
O'Reilly Collins spends even more time working on small aircraft cases.
"We do everything from balloons to ultralights," O'Reilly says.
Ten years ago, the firm recorded the nation's largest small-craft settlement at the time, when former Silicon Valley Chief Executive Officer Dennis Paboojian of Rolm Corp. was awarded $32 million for the injuries he sustained when his Piper Malibu crashed in 1987.
Paboojian suffered burns to 62 percent of his body and lost his left forearm, right hand, nose, ears and most of his facial features. Paboojian v. Teledyne Continental Motors, 654490 (Santa Clara Super. Ct., June 3, 1989).
The firm has taken hundreds of small-craft cases since then. Recently, it won a $6 million verdict against Livermore for three victims of a helicopter accident in that city. Dixon v. City of Livermore, OV771269-8 (Alameda Super. Ct., June 18, 2002).
In April, O'Reilly Collins filed one of the country's first "deep vein thrombosis" cases, a condition identified in medical journals late last year. Some passengers, the firm contends, suffer from blood clots and later strokes and heart attacks after taking long international flights sitting in cramped, poorly designed seats. Again, defendants include manufacturers and airlines.
Despite its high-profile cases, Danko says O'Reilly Collins isn't bound to big-ticket personal injury and wrongful-death litigation.
Late last year, for instance, the firm won a $10 million verdict in a breach of fiduciary duty case against South Bay developer Barry Swenson. Denevi v. Green Valley Corp., 784721 (Santa Clara Super. Ct., Nov. 27, 2001).
Still, the firm's aviation practice remains at the fore.
Among the 20 to 30 firms that specialize in plaintiffs' aviation law nationwide, O'Reilly Collins rates among the very best, says Ned Good, a founding partner of Pasadena aviation practice Good, West & Schuetze.
Perhaps it is O'Reilly Collins' attention to detail that brings in the big wins. O'Reilly, who has been trained as an accident investigator, personally visits crash sites and sifts through evidence.
It may seem morbid, but, he explains, "You can't really try a case without knowing what the scene looked like."
- Erik Cummins
Ira Rothken
Ira Rothken considers himself the Forrest Gump of law. Almost by accident, he says, he's been at the right place at the right time.
Within a year of opening his own office in 1993 in Corte Madera, the former San Mateo insurance defense lawyer found himself in the increasingly lucrative high-tech world, doing corporate and litigation work for friends who were opening their own video game startups.
When the Internet began to take off in the mid-1990s, his multimedia friends started online businesses and began handing him groundbreaking intellectual property cases.
As a result, Rothken, 39, became a known expert in the field, appearing regularly in major newspapers and television shows and getting cases that test the limits of Internet law.
"It was an accident," he says of his intellectual property practice, which makes up 60 percent of his caseload of 50 active cases. The rest consists of general civil litigation and transactional work.
"I guess the notion that I was able to make a practice out of it was a sign of the times," he says. "I was very lucky."
Judy Jennison, an intellectual property litigation partner in Perkins Coie's San Francisco office, says Rothken's cases are often on the cutting edge of Internet law.
"He's in the thick of things," Jennison says simply.
As a solo representing mostly small tech companies, Rothken takes cases that "stick up" for the evolution of technology.
"I also like protecting consumer privacy and fair use rights," he says.
One of his cases did just that.
The Doubleclick case, one of the nation's first Internet consumer privacy cases, alleged that DoubleClick Inc., a New York Internet advertising company, had trampled on people's privacy rights by tracking their online movements so it could target advertising to individual consumers.
The case settled in favor of Rothken's client, an Internet user who had DoubleClick cookies and Web bugs placed on her computer. DoubleClick now must ask permission before it follows Web surfers' movements. Judnick v. Doubleclick, CV-000421 (Marin Super. Ct. Jan. 26, 2001).
In another cutting-edge case, Rothken represents the owners of the ReplayTV device in a suit against major entertainment companies. The suit is asking the federal court to declare that ReplayTV owners have the right to record television shows and skip commercials using the device. Newmark v. Turner Broadcasting, CV02-04445 (C.D. Cal. June 6, 2002).
The case, he says, "could have profound implications not only on the evolution of recording technology but also on consumer rights to record programs in their own homes."
The issue in Turner Broadcasting is whether movie and television companies can enjoin technology "because some people may be using that technology to do illegal things," he says.
A third case may test the limits of what the Internet can and cannot do. Arista Records v. MP3Board Inc., 00 Civ.4660 (S.D.N.Y. July 17, 2000).
In MP3Board, a federal court must decide whether search engines are liable for contributory copyright infringement when they link to other sites.
Rothken, who represents the Santa Cruz search engine MP3 Board, believes the case could lead to paralysis on the Internet if search engines are required to ask permission of Web sites every time they provide hyperlinks.
Jeffrey Knowles, a San Francisco intellectual property lawyer with Coblentz, Patch, Duffy & Bass who's facing off against Rothken in the MP3Board case, isn't surprised that Rothken is in the middle of so many high-stakes technology battles.
"Ira finds his way into cutting-edge cases, one way or another," he says.
- Erik Cummins
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