Paul T. Llewellyn

Working at a large firm, Llewellyn and colleague Marc R. Lewis grew restless. "In 2012, I departed the safety of Latham & Watkins," Llewellyn said, "and co-founded Lewis & Llewellyn with the specific mission of winning high-stakes, complex civil cases for our clients."

They started with no clients and now have more than 100; from two lawyers the firm has grown to nine. "It's been a chance to develop a diverse practice, to try more cases and to experience the excitement of opening our own litigation boutique," he said.

He said San Francisco is an exciting place to practice law. "There's a booming tech economy and an ever-increasing demand for litigation here," he said.

In late April, Llewellyn settled a closely watched case involving another sector of the Bay Area's hot economy: real estate. For client Top Agent Network Inc., he sued rival real estate dissemination service Zillow Inc., alleging misappropriation of proprietary information that allowed Zillow to develop a competing "Coming Soon" feature. Top Agent Network Inc. v. Zillow Inc., 14-cv-04769 (N.D. Cal., filed Oct. 27, 2014)

"The parties have reached an amicable resolution," Llewellyn said. "Clients and adversaries know we are fully prepared to take cases to trial. I try to achieve the best result for the client, whether it is settlement or trial."

Llewellyn represented Plantronics Inc., the manufacturer of Bluetooth headsets, in a suit over whether its insurer had a duty to defend Plantronics in underlying class actions that alleged failure to warn and breach of warranty because the headsets could allegedly cause noise-induced hearing loss. The insurer contended that because the class was not seeking damages for physical injuries, its policies did not apply.

"We argued that because the claims could be amended to include physical harm, our client was covered, and the judge granted us summary judgment," he said. "We were pleased with the result." Plantronics Inc. v. American Home Assurance Co., 07-cv-06038 (N.D. Cal., filed Nov. 11, 2007)

With business litigation, Llewellyn's firm has developed a reputation for representing victims of childhood sexual abuse. He obtained a $1.35 million settlement for client Kristen Cunnane against a South Bay school district on claims she had been sexually abused by a school janitor more than a decade earlier. Llewellyn's complaint alleged that the district failed to try to protect his client. To prevail, he had to overcome serious statute of limitations issues.

"We argued that until 2012, following an investigation by a local newspaper, Ms. Cunnane did not know, and had no reason to know, that the district had engaged in wrongdoing by allegedly concealing knowledge that one of its employees was a sexual predator," Llewellyn said. The district's insurers settled on the eve of trial last September. Pedro v. Belmont-Redwood Shores School District, CIV527064 (San Mateo Super. Ct., filed Feb. 26, 2014)

- John Roemer