Law Practice
Aug. 7, 2002
MoFo Associates Learn Litigation From a Master
SAN FRANCISCO - There are two types of large law firms, according to James Brosnahan. The first is designed solely to enrich senior partners. The second is built for the future.
Brosnahan counts his firm, San Francisco's Morrison & Foerster, among the latter, even though its partners rank among the richest in the state.
Associates and former associates with the 980-lawyer firm say Brosnahan practices what he preaches. The well-known trial attorney one is of the best and most sought-after mentors for young litigators.
Brosnahan has a reputation as a demanding, intimidating and difficult lawyer to work for. But he also is known for throwing young associates, and even summer clerks, into significant cases within days or weeks of their arrival.
"What I try to do, and there are limitations, is give [associates] real-life experiences very early," he said. "It makes all the difference in the world."
Sylvia Sokol, a 31-year-old associate, was first assigned to Brosnahan to work on the ongoing Oakland Raiders litigation with the city of Oakland and Alameda County. City of Oakland v. Oakland Raiders, 97 AS06708.
"At our team's first strategy meeting, he turned to me at one point and said, 'Tell me who you are,' and I told him that I had represented capital defendants in Nevada," she said.
So later, when he landed the case of a protester who was arrested for saying the Lord's Prayer at the entrance to Vandenberg Air Force Base, Brosnahan, knowing Sokol's background, brought her in. United States v. Cody, R02075893/CC21.
John Pacheco started working with Brosnahan as a summer associate. His first case with the veteran trial lawyer tested whether Nevada brothel workers should be classified as employees or independent contractors. Burgess v. United States, CV-N-93-713-HDM.
"He was keen on asking everybody their opinions about witnesses, how things were going and what people thought could be done," recalled Pacheco, now a sixth-year associate. "He really took the time to listen to everybody including myself, who was just a summer associate."
Even in the midst of the trial, Pacheco said, Brosnahan "took the time to offer me tips about what was going on and things I should be paying attention to and noting that certain questions he posed during trial were meant to elicit certain kinds of testimony. It was really trial training at its finest."
Another associate, Kenneth Brakebill, said Brosnahan always tried to carve out significant pieces of litigation for him to work on.
"It could be overwhelming for a young attorney, but it was a fabulous opportunity for me," he said of his first case, the appeal of an arbitration award.
Thomas Treffert, a first-year partner who worked with Brosnahan on IP cases, said associates at other firms have told him they haven't had opportunities like that.
"His attention to associate development is something I'll remember forever," he said. "On trial day it's incredibly intense, and he'll still take the time and talk with them."
Brosnahan tried his first murder case when he was 26. Six years later, he was in charge of the San Francisco Examiner and Chronicle antitrust litigation.
"I try to replicate that [experience] for the young ones," he said. Being deeply involved or even in charge of cases early on, he said, "allows them to be decisive." And that makes a good lawyer.
Brosnahan said he has no problem bringing associates aboard early in their careers.
"When they do get up [in court], I have to sit quietly and let them do it, and not shout out," he said.
For that reason, Brosnahan is one of the partners at Morrison most requested by young lawyers, Morrison litigation partner Michael Agoglia said. Others include Harold McElhinny, who specializes in IP litigation, and securities litigator Melvin Goldman.
Agoglia also worked with Brosnahan as an associate.
"He'll often ask a first-year associate to stand up and give an argument or a motion in limine in a conference room," he said. "There are some anxious moments, but [partners] have got to fight the temptation to allow people to squirrel themselves away and do research."
Sari McClure, a legal search consultant with San Francisco's McClure & Feuer, said many large firms lose their associates because they don't give them enough attention.
"At large firms, people can get lost and don't get the opportunity to get mentored by partner-level people," McClure said. "That's why associates are going to smaller firms. There they can get in the thick of it early on."
For those in large firms, she said, it helps to be assigned to someone like Brosnahan.
"I think an opportunity like that would be a career-changing, career-making opportunity that associates would covet," she said.
Whether or not Brosnahan's associates will stay at the firm, Pacheco said, Brosnahan inspires loyalty. "These intangibles are important," he said. "At some level in a big firm practice, the connections you make and the people you work with make a difference."
Erik Cummins
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