LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Eleven lawyers from the Los Angeles office of a national law firm have launched a litigation boutique based in Los Angeles -- Larson O’Brien LLP. The name partners are Stephen G. Larson, a former federal judge, and Robert C. O’Brien, former Arent Fox LLP California Managing Partner.
Larson O’Brien will focus on “complex litigation, internal investigations and white collar matters, arbitration and state and federal appellate work,” said Larson. O’Brien said the firm will “handle high stakes trials and litigation when companies and individuals have critical issues on the line.”
Larson and O’Brien have a combined 50 years of trial experience on both sides of the bar. Larson adjudicated over a thousand cases as a U.S. Magistrate Judge and U.S. District Judge. He was designated to serve on the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals on seven occasions. Prior to serving on the bench, he was the Chief of the Organized Crime and Racketeering Section of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Los Angeles, where he tried over 20 cases and argued more than 20 appeals. Since returning to private practice, Larson has emerged as one of California’s “go to” trial lawyers for both civil and criminal matters. In the past two years, Larson has appeared before the California Supreme Court and the U.S. Supreme Court. At Arent Fox, he headed the firm’s national litigation practice group, which he doubled in size.
O’Brien has been handling high-profile cases in California and nationally throughout his career. He recently headed the internal investigation into Warren Capital Corporation, representing the receiver responsible for finding and returning millions of dollars to the company’s investors. Last year, he was co-lead counsel for Timor-Leste in a multi-week Singapore-based arbitration against ConocoPhillips arising out of oil-and-gas lease tax disputes. O’Brien was the federal court-appointed discovery master in MGA v. Mattel, the “Barbie v. Bratz” case, and in United States v. S & P, a case that focused on the role of the rating agency during the mortgage crisis. He has served in senior foreign policy positions, including as a U.S. Representative at the United Nations. As California Managing Partner, he grew Arent Fox’s Los Angeles office from 10 to 84 lawyers and opened its 20-lawyer San Francisco outpost.
Larson and O’Brien will be joined by journalist-lawyer, Hugh Hewitt. Hewitt, one of the moderators in all three of CNN’s GOP presidential debates this cycle, will provide both legal and crisis-management advice to firm clients. Like Larson and O’Brien, Hewitt is a former Senate-confirmed presidential appointee, having served as Deputy Director of the Office of Personnel Management in the Reagan Administration.
Former Arent Fox partners Steve Bledsoe and Jon Phillips, both of whom started their careers at Kirkland & Ellis in Los Angeles, will also be partners in the new firm. Former Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jerry Behnke and Melissa Meister, a counsel and associate at Arent Fox, and associates R.C. Harlan, Paul Rigali, Steven Haskins and Emilie Zuccolotto have also signed on to the firm.
Larson and O’Brien will continue to represent clients such as the Walt Disney Company, 21st Century Fox, F. Korbel & Brothers Champagne Cellars, Trojan Battery Company, LSE-listed Green Dragon Gas, Riverside Mission Inn, Colonies Partners, Buzz Aldrin, Cooner Wire and various municipal entities at their new firm. www.larsonobrienlaw.com.
