Sep. 13, 2012
Pamela Phillips
See more on Pamela PhillipsArnold & Porter LLP San Francisco Litigation Specialty: legal malpractice
Last month, Phillips sent out a firmwide email query and got 15 responses in a matter of hours. That's the beauty of 24/7 communication, she said.
It's also the beauty of working for a firm that has a global presence. Phillips, who practices in business litigation, started in 2006 at Howard Rice Nemerovski Canady Falk & Rabkin PC, which became Arnold & Porter LLP when the two law firms merged earlier this year. The partnership boosted Washington D.C.-based Arnold & Porter's presence in California and upped Howard Rice's practices to an international scale. She said the move to the global playing field has opened many doors for her practice.
"The combination has been great," she said. "Everyone that I know at the firm is very happy with the people and the energy and the enthusiasm. We represented a lot of corporations at Howard Rice but what's fun now is that we're getting new opportunities. Fascinating examples like wire-tapping and whistle-blowing."
Phillips' practice focuses on litigation filed by and against lawyers. She has more than 20 years of experience defending attorneys in malpractice suits, but a recent uptick in law firm dissolutions has kept her practice busy of late.
"What makes it interesting is that each one has its own personality and therefore requires some creativity in how you deal with that," she said.
Phillips has been instrumental in assisting lawyers in the aftermath of the bankruptcy and dissolution of Dewey & LeBoeuf LLP. The Dewey case is unique, she said, because of the ways that retired partners are attempting to collect money from former partners. The next step in the case will be to see how the court responds in regards to approving the partner contribution plan, the pool of money extracted from former Dewey partners.
Phillips' practice has also been hit with an influx of claims based on alleged transactional malpractice - cases where a client has been involved in a financial project that turned out unfavorably and as a result is seeking contribution from lawyers. As to why there's an increase in such claims, Phillips points to the economy.
"Businesses have suffered setbacks and losses," she said. "And whenever that happens, there's a tendency to go looking for pools of money to help ease the pain of business decisions or economic downturns."
Phillips has been called an attorney's attorney, a position that many think might be unappealing.
"A lot of people think it'd be terrible to have lawyers as clients, like maybe they would nitpick everything," she said. "But I think that's a bonus because they appreciate my expertise."
A Michigan native, Phillips said she remains a Midwesterner at heart, but believes she really has found her niche in the California legal marketplace.
"I'm never quite sure where the day is going to take me but it's always interesting," she said. "I'm very lucky to have this practice."
- ALEXANDRA SCHWAPPACH
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