Sole Practitioner

By Bernice Yeung
     
      As a federal prosecutor for 16 years, Steven Gruel took down organized crime syndicates, broke the Nuestra Familia prison gang, and tackled human-trafficking cases. Before that, he worked for nearly a decade in white-shoe law firms. Except for a brief stint at an art gallery right after college, Gruel had never set out to be anything but a lawyer.
     
      But when Gruel left his job at the U.S. Attorney's office in 2005, he decided to start up a novel solo practice-a joint criminal defense and private investigation firm in San Francisco-that drew on his favorite aspects of trying federal cases. "I've always liked handling cases with long investigations," Gruel explains. "I was on the Organized Crime Task Force for ten years, where we made cases based on undercover operations and stings. Investigation was so part and parcel of being a federal prosecutor that I just wanted to continue with it."
     
      To get a private investigator's license, Gruel needed accreditation from the California Department of Consumer Affairs's Bureau of Security and Investigative Services, a process that typically requires 6,000 hours of training under the guidance of a licensed investigator (4,000 hours for lawyers). But because of Gruel's investigation-related work as a federal prosecutor, he automatically qualified for a license.
     
      Gruel notices plenty of overlap with investigative work and lawyering. "It's very fluid," he says. "The tasks are different, but the skills are indistinguishable."
     
      The detective part of his practice, called Blue Colt Investigations, includes work such as finding witnesses for other lawyers and conducting surveillance on spouses suspected of cheating. With four different cars for surveillance, Gruel typically confirms a client's suspicions of marital infidelity by trailing the client's spouse to a hotel and then watching the person check in with a third party.
     
      But as much as Gruel enjoys wearing both hats, he says legal work currently takes up the bulk of his time, thanks to a few high-profile cases he's handling. In one, he is defending a Los Angelesbased Drug Enforcement Administration agent accused of perjury related to his use of a dishonest informant. Gruel also received lots of media attention for his defense of, ironically, famed private investigator Anthony Pellicano, who is being federally prosecuted for allegedly wiretapping phones and computers and bribing police to gather information on about 60 Hollywood celebrities.
     
      While working as a prosecutor, Gruel knew for more than a decade that solo practice would be his next step. Aware that he'd eventually have to build a client base from scratch, Gruel began throwing himself into local politics and volunteer work several years ago. "These activities allowed me to meet people outside of the law," he explains. "If you start your own law firm, you have to tap into the nonlegal community to get the phone to ring."
     
      Though some of the logistics of running his own business-such as billing and buying office furniture-were a challenge at first, Gruel says, a solo practice ultimately gives him the professional freedom to take on unusual roles.
     
      "The beautiful thing about solo practice is that you can define yourself however you want," he says.
     
      Bernice Yeung (bmyeung@yahoo.com) is a freelance writer based in New York City.
     

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