Where the businesses go, the lawyers follow.
Businesses lured here by Utah's glowing economy are trailing national law firms in their wake, sparking an unprecedented surge in the number of branch offices opened here by out-of-state law firms.That trend is giving local lawyers a chance to tout their talents in a national field.
When the Portland, Oregon, law firm of Stoel Rives came to town to take over Utah Power & Light's legal work, it lured its new stable of partners from Van Cott, Bagley, Cornwall & McCarthy, one of the oldest firms in town.
Four of Van Cott Bagley's top lawyers now run Stoel Rives' Utah shop in the pricey digs at the Utah One Center.
When the Phoenix law firm of Snell & Wilmer landed the Mrs. Fields' legal account and decided to open shop here, it cherry-picked promising young lawyers from three of the town's oldest firms and snatched seven lawyers from the former firm of Hansen & Anderson.
National and regional law firms are opening offices in Utah at an unprecedented rate, moving here because they've landed major local accounts or they want to cash in on Utah's vigorous economy.
"When you are as visible as Salt Lake has been in the last few years, you get noticed" said Mark Buchi, managing partner of the Denver-based Holme, Roberts & Owens. The firm has a 25-attorney branch office here.
The trend has allowed dozens of local lawyers to do the kind of work they say they can't do in the homegrown firms.
The list of opportunities with the branch offices sounds like the Marine Corps' bait for "a few good men": new responsibilities, added expertise, rapid ascent to leadership and a lot of travel.
Then there's that last lure the Marines don't offer: serious money.
While spokesmen in some branch offices will only say their pay is "competitive" with local firms, the partners in others hedge a bit, then acknowledge the cash.
"I think most people here are making more money than they used to," former U.S. Attorney David Jordan said about his new home, Stoel Rives.
How much more? "I'm not that crass," was his curt reply.
His reticence was typical of the lawyers.
But a secretary at Snell & Wilmer wasn't that shy. Speaking of the move she and her boss made, she said, "I can tell you why we switched: Money. I'm making almost twice what I made at (the previous firm.) They pay more. It's that simple."
But wealth isn't the chief draw, most lawyers say. The lawyers who like branch offices cite the chance to work on national cases, draw on the expertise of hundreds of fellow attorneys and yet enjoy the camaraderie of a small local office.
Most of the regional and national firms' local offices have fewer than 20 attorneys in them. Yet those teams are backed by more than 200 lawyers in other offices across the country.
"That provides me with a lot of resources I can use for my client," said Ron Rencher, a partner at the local office of LeBoeuf, Lamb, Leiby & MaCrae, a New York law firm.
"I can reach into the firm - the San Francisco office, the New York office, the Washington, D.C., office - and find someone with the expertise I need."
His chief client: the Department of Water and Power of Los Angeles City. Rencher chose LeBoeuf, Lamb because he already had the L.A. client and knew it required the expertise of a large national firm.
But most branch lawyers, like Jim Holtcamp, inherit hefty clients they couldn't have landed in their old firms.
When Holtcamp went to work for Stoel Rives, he walked in the door as one of Pacificorp's senior counsel without ever having worked with the power company before.
"I was able to tie into one of the best group of environmental lawyers in the Western United States. I'm into some exotic legal areas that are really a lot of fun," he said. (Holtcamp deals with the trading of air emission credits, for those wondering what's the latest in exotic legal fun.)
Hiring local lawyers is critical to the success of an out-of-town firm, said Greg Nielsen, the managing partner of Snell & Wilmer. He moved here from Phoenix to open the Salt Lake office, a 17-lawyer spread in the Broadway Centre.
A new firm has to build its practice around "proven" lawyers, "known in the community and known in the courts; practitioners with a track record," he said.
"People here understand the way things work in Utah," Jordan said. That's important to out-of-town firms.
Branch offices have to couple the Utah savvy with cutting edge technology to win both at home and out of state. They are the first to buy the latest communication toys.
Technology "makes it happen" for Holme, Roberts' multi-state clients like US WEST and Southern Pacific Railroad, Buchi said.
Buchi joined Holme, Roberts' office because he wants a multi-state tax practice. Working out of the Salt Lake office, he has done work in 14 states. "That's the appeal for me," he said. But he can't do it without a network that links the firm's several Colorado offices with the Salt Lake, London and Moscow offices.
Buchi can draft a brief in Salt Lake City, hit a button and have the brief promptly printed out in Denver and delivered to a Denver client by runner within five minutes, he said.
The firm's lawyers use regular modems and phone lines to transfer work to any of its additional "network firms" in 12 other cities. Network firms are local law firms in those cities that work with Holme Roberts on cases.
Those relationships, too, are part of the trend toward establishing national law practices from the comfort of home.
Ralph Mabey, a former federal bankruptcy judge, is the managing partner for LeBoeuf, Lamb's local office. He lives and works here. But the New York firm's national presence, particularly in Washington, D.C., helped Mabey land the job of court-appointed examiner in the Robbins Dalcon Shield case litigated in Richmond, Va., a few years ago.
LeBoeuf, Lamb's 450 lawyers across the country and overseas are connected by computer links that allow electronic mail to flash back and forth among teams of lawyers. That technology allows Mabey to assist TWA pilots in their fiscal jousting with TWA on any battleground in the world.
But, despite technology, a national practice inevitably means national travel. Lawyers with the regional offices are out of town as often as they are in. "I was in Boise last week. This week I'll be in Denver. Next week I'll be in Washington, D.C.," Jordan said. His schedule is typical.
The heady lure of exotic legal fun coupled with frequent flier miles is offset by some real risks. Lawyers in the local offices of national firms have little say in the fate of their offices.
Holtcamp discovered that when the Denver-based law firm of Davis, Graham & Stubbs closed its Salt Lake office in May, 1992. Holtcamp had left VanCott Bagley to manage that office.
The cutback was sparked by Denver's poor economy and personality conflicts in the firm, he said. "We had plenty of work to do in Salt Lake. We were exporting work to Denver."
But talented lawyers and hard work couldn't keep the Salt Lake office open. Davis, Graham closed offices in Salt Lake City, Houston, Sante Fe and London that year.
"They pulled in their horns and amputated their offices - a decision I strongly disagreed with." But a decision Holtcamp had no say in.
That powerlessness is a risk of regional offices, he learned. "That's a risk every lawyer in every branch office ought to think about occasionally," he said.
But after interviewing with 18 law firms, and considering offers from several of them, Holtcamp opted to go with Stoel Rives, another branch office.
Simply, the benefits outweigh the risks, he said.
"Opening a branch is risky," Buchi acknowledged. "It's very expensive. You don't walk in with a full stable of clients like a local firm has. There's a lengthy start-up time before a branch office is successful. The rest of the law firm has to support the branch offices and be patient as they develop."
And the branch office, in turn, has to figure out a way to become a player in firm politics.
"In a New York-based firm with 450 lawyers, you are quite a ways away from the ultimate decisionmakers," Mabey said. "We've learned that the hard way."
Mabey got himself appointed a member of the firm's management team, partly to pull the Salt Lake office into the loop of office politics.
"We have very close ties now and we're able to se that the decisions made in the firm have our full input."
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ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Out-of-state firms with branch offices in Utah:
Ballard, Sparr, Andrews & Ingersoll: The Philadelphia-based firm came to Salt Lake City in 1987, hiring the attorneys with the former firm of Fox, Edwards, Gardiner and Brown. The branch office has 11 lawyers, with a total of more than 260 lawyers in six U.S. offices.
Beus, Gilbert & Morrell: The Phoenix-based firm came to Salt Lake City in 1992 because it was hired to work on the Bonneville Pacific bankruptcy. The branch office has three attorneys. The firm has a total of 45 attorneys in two cities.
Chapman & Cutler: The Chicago-based law firm came to Salt Lake City in 1981 to do municipal bond work. The branch office has six lawyers, with a total of 243 lawyers in three U.S. offices.
Holland & Hart: The Denver-based law firm came to Salt Lake City this year. The branch office has one attorney, but more are expected later this year. The firm has a total of approximately 210 attorneys in 10 U.S. cities.
Holme, Roberts & Owens: The Denver-based law firm came to Salt Lake City in 1988. It has 24 lawyers in its branch office here, and approximately 200 lawyers in six offices located in four U.S. cities, London and Moscow.
LeBoeuf, Lamb, Greene & MacRae: The New York-based firm came to Salt Lake City in 1981. The branch office has 14 attorneys, with a total of nearly 500 lawyers in 13 offices in the United States, Brussells, England and Russia.
Snell & Wilmer: The Phoenix-based firm came to Salt Lake City in 1991 after becoming legal counsel for Mrs. Fields' Cookies. The branch office has 17 attorneys, with approximately 250 lawyers in four U.S. cities.
Stoel, Rives: The Portland-based law firm came to Salt Lake City in 1992 because Pacificorp - one of the firm's chief clients - merged with Utah Power & Light. The branch office has 15 attorneys, with a total of about 250 lawyers in five U.S. cities.