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William-Arthur Haynes
Daily Journal Staff Writer
SAN FRANCISCO - At the outset of hanging a shingle after years of practice at a large firm, there seems to be an unavoidable dynamic voiced by many who dare to take the leap: The best aspects of being on your own can simultaneously be the most challenging and scariest.
At 1,100-attorney Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker, where Peter Rukin, John Hyland and Stephanie Doria once practiced together, and even 50-plus Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, Steven Tindall's alma mater, there was depth in both talent and resources.
"When an issue came up, there were a hundred people I could go to and bounce ideas off, ask them if they've done this before, get their guidance," said Hyland of Paul Hastings' robust employment law group, where he was of-counsel until December 2005. "Here [at Rukin Hyland Doria & Tindall] you're suddenly on your own. That's the great thing, too, because I get to call the shots, I get to decide how to do it."
Rukin, a former employment of-counsel at Paul Hastings, launched his Oakland-based employee-side shop in 2003. He began his legal career on the plaintiffs' side at Chicago's Stowell & Friedman and Vladeck Waldman Elias & Engelhard in New York before going into defense at Paul Hastings.
"The idea of starting my own plaintiffs' employment firm was always in the back of my mind," Rukin said. "The draw, in addition to doing that kind of work, was being my own boss and making my own decisions about what cases to take and how to run them."
Doria left Paul Hastings as a senior associate in August 2005 and handled contract work for Rukin's solo practice. At the same time, they were laying the foundation for Rukin Hyland & Doria in anticipation of Hyland's December departure.
Work-Life Balance
She had been at the firm for more than five years and there was no telling when a partnership nod was coming, Doria said. Even still, she concluded the requisite sacrifices of making partner were too high a price for the monetary rewards.
Her motivation for leaving was two-fold. As an associate, you do the work you're assigned. She wanted the freedom to be more entrepreneurial and assert greater control over her practice.
Doria speaks for both her Paul Hastings colleagues when she says the other primary motivation was to work fewer hours and have more work-life balance.
"It's funny," Hyland said, "I don't think there was a single person that I talked to at the big firm when we left who looked at you like, 'I don't understand why you're doing this.'"
It was the right time in his career, he said. He'd gone from "Maybe someday I'll start a firm" to "Yeah, someday," and had finally reached the point of "Now's the time."
"I had this visual of a number of kids standing up on a railroad trestle, dying to dive into the river below," he explained. "All the kids nervous as hell, but the ones who did it just thought this was amazing. I didn't want to be the kid that crept off to safety never having had that exhilaration."
The erstwhile Paul Hastings lawyers practiced as Rukin Hyland & Doria through 2006. Tindall added his name to the shingle Jan. 1 after eight years at Lieff Cabraser, five of which were spent as a partner focused primarily on plaintiffs' class actions.
The genesis of Tindall's leap had everything to do with a desire to "see if I could eventually go out on my own and do the sorts of cases that I specialized in, but do them where my name is on the door and I have a lot larger say in a smaller group rather than a smaller say in the larger group."
Founding partner Robert L. Lieff did the same thing 35 years ago as a partner at Belli Ashe Ellison Choulos & Lieff. He did it again last year when he launched Lieff Global.
"I think it's a very natural progression for certain lawyers," Tindall said. "I was wanting to see if I could build a shop in the way Bob did and make a name for myself with my name on the door."
Tindall and Rukin met as opposing counsel on a wage-and-hour matter. At the case's conclusion, Rukin told Tindall of his plan to go solo. It wasn't long before Rukin tapped Tindall and the Lieff Cabraser firm for collaboration on a case against Longs Drugs in 2004. Paul Hastings was defense counsel.
Tindall, after having trained under the top-notch litigators Lieff Cabraser is known for, had the confidence to be a part of something he controlled.
"That's when it makes sense to go out on your own," he said. "You've got enough experience where you've learned how to litigate cases, both doing the nuts and bolts of the litigation and being able to manage a case from beginning to end."
If the absence of any safety net their former firms provided seemed daunting at first, the trepidation has proven surmountable.
Getting work in the door hasn't been a problem. Matters have come from just about every angle: business brought from their former firms, referrals from attorneys they've worked with and against, previous clients circling back for other matters, down to being discovered in the Yellow Pages or online.
But perhaps the most integral part of the smaller firms is to find a niche and fill it.
Defending Individuals
In addition to the plaintiffs' work done by Rukin and Tindall, the employment boutique balances plaintiffs and defense work. Hyland and Doria have developed a forte of representing individual defendants in employment cases.
In the context of a harassment suit, for instance, oftentimes firms are conflicted out or think it unwise to represent both the employer and an individual manager, Rukin said. While at the start the defendants might be one in the same in the defendant column, half-way through litigation a conflict can arise between the accused employer and the individual named.
"A lot of times at the outset of litigation you don't necessarily know all the facts," Doria explained. "So it's becoming more and more accepted that it's probably in the best interest of the employer to obtain separate representation for the [individual]."
In the past, large firms have been disinclined to bring in another defense firm in such instances.
"There's really no one filling that void because what happened is defense firms are reluctant out of fear that if the employer client likes how their co-counsel is representing the individual defendant, they might steal their client away," Rukin said. "There's not only a gap out there in terms of people doing the work, but there's an increasing need for it."
The firm has filled the void. They've been called in by Paul Hastings to represent individuals on several cases.
"The firm has been really good to us since we've come out on our own," said Doria, conceding she hadn't even contemplated the niche before departing. "It's turned out to be a pretty big part of what I do. It just sort of worked out that way."
Paul Hastings gives those individual defendants a choice of firms in such instances, but a lot have chosen to be represented by Hyland or Doria, said Paul Hastings employment partner Kirby C. Wilcox, who worked closely with the former Paul Hastings attorneys.
The employment practice is a partisan specialty. A firm that's both an advocate for plaintiffs and defense counsel wrapped into one shop is a rarity. Typically, firms are either all plaintiff-oriented or all employer-oriented, and few even attempt to wear both hats.
The perception of litigants, Wilcox said, is that if you're defense counsel you can't think the other side has credibility as well. If you're representing a plaintiff, it's the reverse.
Working Both Sides
"The Rukin Hyland Doria & Tindall firm straddles that fence well," said Wilcox, a 30-year veteran employment litigator. "It's partly because, even though their primary focus is to bring cases on behalf of employees, most of them have backgrounds with employer-oriented firms. They have a perspective on the discipline that people who grew up on only one side of the fence don't have. It could have the effect of keeping them very well-rounded."
Working for a firm of four partners and an associate also brings a measure of flexibility.
"One of the ways a firm like ours is attractive is that our rates are generally lower than a big firm," Doria said. "The company may have some big firm representing it, but with respect to the individual they don't necessarily need that same kind of defense or they don't want to pay the types of rates the big firms charge."
The firm views its business model similar to a well-managed investment portfolio.
"The hourly work you do is your bonds," Hyland said. "It pays the bills, it's not a super return on investment, but it's not bad at all."
Then there are the riskier cases - if they pay, they could pay very well. The firm tries to strike a sensible balance.
There's a basic threefold strategy the firm pursues and refines: ensure they're practicing at the highest level possible, both professionally and ethically; practice in a way they all enjoy; and maintain professional and personal balance.
"I think the moment any of us get to the point where we find we're not enjoying what we're doing," Hyland said, "it's time to completely revamp the business plan."
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The Lawyers at Rukin Hyland Doria & Tindall were named to the Northern California Super Lawyers
