Oct. 16, 2014
Scheper Kim & Harris LLP
See more on Scheper Kim & Harris LLPLos Angeles | Litigation
Other litigation boutiques in Los Angeles, like Bird, Marella, Boxer, Wolpert, Nessim, Drooks, Lincenberg & Rhow PC and Caldwell Leslie & Proctor PC, were founded in the 1970s and '80s, making the "new kids" narrative more plausible for Scheper Kim, which coalesced only a decade ago.
But what the firm lacks in institutional experience, it more than makes up for in achievement and individual accomplishment, resulting in a highly successful litigation niche. Many of the partners have high-profile backgrounds at big firms but have been convinced to take part in the burgeoning boutique experiment.
"We're getting the best lawyers from the best firms," said David C. Scheper, one of the firm's founding partners. "What really jump -started us is having partners from big law firms jump off the cliff over here."
It's worked, so far, because the firm has been able to attract attorneys with strong litigation backgrounds , something that is hard to find, according to Scheper.
"If you reduce what you like best about being a trial lawyer, a litigation lawyer, you find you like doing a variety of terribly different things with people you know and trust completely," he said. "That absolutely can happen in big law, but it demonstrably happened to us in boutique law."
There's also a pragmatic side to it, according to partner Marc S. Harris. Where the hierarchical structure of big law firms forces decision-making into a rigid set of parameters, their boutique is more flexible.
"I like the autonomy of running our own firm and not having to ask folks in some faraway locale about getting a printer in my office," Harris said. "You have lots of flexibility with rates, you have total quality control and everyone's pulling the sled in the same direction."
The firm's lawyers say the boutique experience has forced them to prioritize and become more multidimensional, according to Angela M. Machala, who joined the firm from O'Melveny & Myers LLP.
"Because we're leaner than someone like O'Melveny, we have to be more efficient and focus on what's key," she said.
For Scheper, the most exciting part is that all 15 lawyers at the firm are still hungry for battle, a must for litigators. "Everybody," he said, "is still soaring and looking for the best thing they'll ever do."
- Henry Meier
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