Lewis Brisbois Defector Firm’s Flop Is Boon for Labor Boutique

O’Hagan Meyer has super-charged its labor practice in the hot California market thanks to the implosion of a law firm that sprouted from a mass exodus from Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith.

O’Hagan Meyer gained 75 attorneys between May 1 and Sept. 16, ranking fourth in hiring among US law operations, according to data company Firm Prospects. The Chicago-headquartered boutique hired more attorneys than any of the 20 largest firms, including DLA Piper, Morgan, Lewis & Bockius and Norton Rose Fulbright.

The mid-August implosion of Daugherty Lordan, a firm that Lewis Brisbois labor and employment attorneys formed in Los Angeles three months earlier, was crucial in O’Hagan’s ability to make the hires, said Adam Oliver, CEO of Firm Prospects. “It was like they acquired a firm that was falling apart,” he said.

The data makes clear how the unprecedented collapse of a law firm because of racist, sexist, antisemitic and anti-LGBTQ+ emails by its founders was a rare opportunity for a rival firm to ramp up its presence in the labor law space. O’Hagan Meyer, which isn’t big enough to rank in The American Lawyer’s top 200 US law firms by revenue, absorbed more than 50 attorneys from the short-lived Daugherty Lordan.

The firm announced the opening of a new Los Angeles office and an expanded footprint in the city six days after Daugherty Lordan shut its doors, citing “risk, uncertainty, and market conditions.” Nearly 20 of O’Hagan Meyer’s attorneys in the Los Angeles office are alums of Lewis Brisbois, Barber Ranen or Daugherty Lordan, according to LinkedIn. Melissa Daugherty is co-managing the new office.

Just a day after Daugherty Lordan acknowledged its closure, O’Hagan Meyer announced the opening of an office in Sacramento. All three attorneys at the office worked at Daugherty Lordan or Lewis Brisbois. O’Hagan Meyer expanded its San Francisco office in August, with Joseph Lordan, a former name partner of the shuttered boutique, named as co-managing partner.

“California is such an important market for employment law,” O’Hagan Meyer said in a statement. “We are thrilled to have added almost 80 employment attorneys in California to add to our legacy offices throughout the state. “

California ‘Hotbed’

The extensive hiring is noteworthy for a low-profile firm like O’Hagan Meyer, according to Rafael Lázaro, who’s practiced employment law in the Chicago market for over a decade. “If they’re growing, it means they are getting business in the door,” Lázaro said.

California is a hotbed for employment lawyers because of its complex labor code and rules, according to Michael Lotito, co-chair of Littler Mendelson’s Workplace Policy Institute. “The need for workplace lawyers of all kinds has intensified and I don’t see it slowing down,” he said.

US firms hired 382 labor and employment lawyers in their California offices from May 1 to mid-September, more than any other practice area except litigation, the Firm Prospects data shows. Employers are grappling with workplace diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, unionization efforts and salary disclosure regulation changes, said Valerie Fontaine, co-founder of legal recruiting firm Seltzer Fontaine.

Nearly 140 labor and employment attorneys left Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith to launch a new firm then called Barber Ranen in May. The new firm pushed out its founders, John Barber and Jeff Ranen, weeks later, after Lewis Brisbois released a tranche of the duo’s racist, sexist, antisemitic and anti-LGBTQ+ emails.

The duo said then they would “be taking time away” from the legal business and “explore the ways in which we can most effectively demonstrate our contrition and commitment to a world characterized by inclusion, kindness and grace, all qualities we failed to demonstrate in our private correspondence.”

The firm in June rebranded itself as Daugherty Lordan and tapped Lordan and Daugherty as its new leaders, but the effort failed as attorneys hit the exits.

Brisbois Hires

Lewis Brisbois, with a need to replenish its ranks, hired the most attorneys of any US law firm—124—between May 1 and Sept. 16, Firm Prospects data shows. It was followed by Gordon & Rees, which hired 116 and Wilson, Elser, Moskowitz, Edelman & Dicker, which gained 111.

O’Hagan Meyer’s addition of 75 lawyers in that time was a natural fit for the firm, said Jennifer Henderson of recruiting firm Hatch Henderson Fivel. The firm’s work and rates were similar enough to the spinoffs for the moves to make sense for the attorneys and their clients, who are used to a certain style of work, she said.

“You have to think about where your clients will be best serviced,” Henderson said.

The 250-lawyer O’Hagan Meyer has clients that include Kia Corp., which it represented against workplace discrimination allegations at one of its dealerships. The firm also represented Bissell Inc. against allegations it didn’t pay a law firm for its services, and Hyundai Motor Co. in an alleged personal injury suit.

Kevin O’Hagan, the firm’s founding partner, is a certified agent for representing NFL clients, according to the O’Hagan Meyer website. He founded the firm in 2006 after practicing for 15 years at firms including McGuireWoods and Locke Lord Edwards. Charles Meyer, the managing partner, chaired the labor and employment practice at LeClairRyan, which is now defunct after filing for bankruptcy in 2019.