By Doug Sherwin
The Daily Transcript

SAN DIEGO -- Law firms around the nation, especially in San Diego, are expected to increase their rosters in the coming year, an indication that the local economy is getting stronger.

In a national survey completed by Robert Half Legal, 55 percent of attorneys contacted said they would be augmenting their teams in the next 12 months.

Intellectual property (IP), corporate law, real estate and litigation were the areas tabbed to experience the most growth.

"This should be a good time to be a law student," said Richard L. Parker, managing shareholder of San Diego's Heller Ehrman White & McAuliffe LLP office.

"We just hired another corporate person and we're interviewing for several more. We're looking for more people in the patent prosecution area, and we feel we're stepping up our annual hiring fairly significantly," Parker said.

The survey of 200 attorneys from among the nation's 1,000 largest law firms and corporations also showed that 41 percent expected their rosters to remain the same size.

Only 3 percent surveyed felt their firms would be downsizing.

The numbers are even better for San Diego County.

"The survey is a national survey, but it's almost as if it was written purely for San Diego," said Kristin Kanter, Robert Half's San Diego branch manager. "We found all the facts apply here."

"With the improvement in the economy, we've just seen the need for experience in IP and real estate individuals. And of course with the large biotech presence in San Diego, we've seen a demand for IP staff," she said.

The unemployment rate in San Diego rose to 4.6 percent in January and February, its highest rate since July 2003.

In March, however, it sank to 4.3 percent according to figures by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

"What we're seeing is there's a lot more deals, more companies getting early funding, and a lot of merger and acquisition activity," Parker said. Our corporate practice grows with the growth in the economy and it offers the potential to create more jobs."

"My sense is that people in other firms are sensing the same pickup."

The increase in the housing and building industry has also increased the demand for real estate lawyers.

New home sales in San Diego County increased by more than 1,500 units recently. In the fourth quarter of 2004, the number of sales was 2,792. The figure jumped to 4,198 for the first quarter of 2005, according to figures on the Building Industry Association of San Diego Web site.

"With the tremendous increase in residential and commercial building in San Diego, firms are looking for trained real estate attorneys and support staff," Kanter said.

"We're not going to be substantially growing our bankruptcy practice right now," Parker said. "Other than that, all of the areas we're working in seem promising."

Kanter attributed the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 for the expected increase at law firms, as corporations scramble to get in line with the new regulations.

"A lot of corporate legal departments in San Diego are bringing in compliance experts," Kanter said. "It (Sarbanes-Oxley) only oversees publicly held companies, but a lot of private ones are looking to go public... so they want to make sure they're in line with government regulations."

Anticipating the increase, Luce Forward Hamilton Scripps LLP is expanding to accommodate the growth. It has added eight to 10 offices on one floor of its San Diego building.

Luce Forward's summer action program, where second-year law students work for several weekends, is doubling in size from six last year to 12 this summer. The firm hires many of the participants upon-graduation.

"We've been very active in lateral recruiting for all four of our offices," said Stephen T. Toohill, Luce Forward's recruiting committee chair. "We're out looking for specific lateral candidates in four or five areas. It's very competitive out there for lateral hires.

"The IP practice has been expanding for a lot of firms."

The area's smaller firms have also felt the benefits.
The civil litigation firm of Casey Gerry Schenk Francavilla Blatt & Penfield has added one member to its nine-person staff recently and three since the start of 2004.

"Our practice has been expanding," said senior partner Fred Schenk. "I'm hearing from others on the defense side a lot of law firms are now taking over cases (that) in-house lawyers used to handle. Private firms are handling cases that were being held by inside counsel for insurance companies.