Heather L. Rosing

Rosing’s professional life centers on lawyers and law firms and how they work. Foremost, she is a prominent defense attorney for lawyers and judges in trouble. As the head of Klinedinst’s professional responsibility practice, she and her team handle some of the state’s most complex malpractice cases, she said.

She is perhaps best known as one of the leaders in the effort to bifurcate the old State Bar of California into a purely regulatory agency and an education-focused professional society. She headed that group, the California Lawyers Association, from its inception in 2018 until October 2019, overseeing its growth beyond its origins as the former State Bar’s practice specialty sections.

When Rosing stepped down as president of the California Lawyers Association, she immediately became the president of its related charitable organization, the California Lawyers Foundation.

The foundation aims to improve access to justice, diversify the profession and educate students across our state, according to its website.

Soon after the coronavirus arrived, she added, the foundation and the California Lawyers Association launched a series of informational videos to help individuals and small businesses understand many of the legal issues created by the pandemic.

But one of her proudest professional accomplishments was to become Klinedinst’s CEO and president earlier this year. She is the first woman to hold the post in the firm’s 38-year history. “There are very few women managing partners or CEOs … of law firms, so I’m pleased for what that stands for in the profession generally,” she said.

Rosing is the CEO, not the managing partner, because “we run this place like a business,” she said. “We think like a business, and it enhances our ability to service our clients.”

In her new post, she is leading the firm through a strategic planning process focusing on issues such as modernization, innovation and diversity. “How do you promote your brand, how do you attract and retain talent, how do you promote diversity, equity and inclusion, how do you ensure profitability, and how do you ensure smooth, seamless operations?”

Even before the pandemic, Klinedinst was exploring ways lawyers and staff could work remotely, Rosing said. Those changes are already allowing the firm to downsize its Los Angeles location.

It also invested early and heavily in technology and e-discovery capabilities. “We’ve always prided ourselves on being cutting-edge,” she said.

— Don DeBenedictis