Paul Llewellyn, left, and Marc Lewis
Latham & Watkins LLP and launched their own law firm, they had to manage a slight
hiccup on the first day of business in early 2012.
"It was a Monday morning in February 2012 and we didn't have a single client," Lewis
said. "By that evening we landed a real estate suit. Now we have more than 100 clients
and are managing two dozen active matters."
Based in San Francisco, Lewis & Llewellyn LLP has seven partners today. They focus
on civil litigation and their suits range from insurance claims to handling the consequences
of sexual abuse. That freedom to pursue a range of litigation cases was at the heart
of their decision to launch a firm
"We routinely work on several matters," Lewis said. "It's an intense workload but
we love what we do."
The majority of their workload focuses on business litigation, but they both said
that one of the more moving cases they've handled revolved around childhood sexual
abuse claims in the Moraga School District in Contra Costa County. Under their legal
effort, the district's insurance company agreed to settle with former student Kristen
Cunnane for $2.85 million in 2014 after several years of no legal activity.
"She'd been abused from 1996-2000 and there were statute of limitations arguments,"
Llewellyn said. "She had a very difficult case. Now we have a reputation of being
the tip of the spear on bringing change on these issues. It's very rewarding."
A retired partner with Latham helped boost the firm by recommending Plantronics Inc.
keep counsel with Lewis and Llewellyn on an insurance dispute that stretches back
to 2007. Both attorneys were Latham associates at the start of the case. The Santa
Cruz-based company was facing allegations from several insurance companies that its
blue tooth headsets caused hearing loss.
"I had a previous relationship with the partner and he said 'you should stick with
them'," Plantronics general counsel Richard Pickard said. "Their service has been
great."
Llewellyn and Lewis have pulled their team of partners from the ranks of both Latham
and Winston & Strawn LLP. The draw to working for a small firm is the potential to
tackle a gambit of legal issues, they both said. And it's part of their recruiting
message.
"We both had wonderful experiences at Latham," Lewis said. "But we wanted to have
more control over how cases are litigated and we wanted to go to trial more. We wanted
to transform."
The firm has represented several Fortune 100 companies, including Tesla Motors Inc.,
The Clorox Co., Yelp Inc. and Oracle America Inc.
- BANKS ALBACH
#261326
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