BB&K Expands LA Office Space; Adds Attorneys & City Clients

A little over a year ago, Best Best & Krieger LLP (BB&K) opened a Los Angeles office in temporary space with five municipal, eminent domain and litigation attorneys.  The California law firm is now moving into a larger, permanent Los Angeles office space and plans to fill its additional space quickly.

Los Angeles office and attorneys

BB&K has built-out 13,500 square feet of office space on the 25^th floor of downtown Los Angeles’ One California Plaza building.  The new space will accommodate 19 offices, nearly doubling the temporary office capacity.  BB&K has signed a seven year lease with Maguire Properties, with an option to lease the other half of the 25^th floor.

Heading the expanded Los Angeles presence is BB&K municipal law partner Dean Derleth.  Derleth represents municipal, school and other public agency clients as general and special counsel.  He currently serves as city attorney for three cities in Southern California and as assistant or deputy city attorney for other cities.  Derleth was most recently office managing partner for the firm’s Orange County office.  Municipal law partner Sonia R. Carvalho has replaced Derleth as Orange County office managing partner.

BB&K’s Los Angeles office recently added municipal law partner Edward W. Lee and environmental law partner Beth S. Dorris.  Lee has over 30 years experience in municipal and redevelopment law.  He is the city attorney for the cities of Bell, Covina and Gardena.  Dorris has more than 20 years experience representing public and private clients in a wide range of environmental and land use issues.

"Since we opened our doors in LA, we have been approached by both potential clients and attorneys who knew of the firm’s solid reputation and were excited to see that we added an LA office,” says Derleth.  “Our growth plans for Los Angeles County are aggressive and this office expansion is evidence of our success thus far.  We have the right attorneys with the right expertise to build long and successful relationships with our clients in the area, and we are thrilled to be able to bring our cost-effective municipal and private expertise to this region.”

BB&K represents largest number of California cities as city attorney

With the addition of Lee’s three city attorney clients, plus two additional new firm city attorney clients: Coachella and Williams, BB&K now serves as city attorney to more California cities than any other law firm in the state.¹  BB&K represents 30 cities throughout the state as contract city attorney.  In addition, the firm’s 110 municipal attorneys practice from eight California offices -- more statewide offices than any other California municipal law firm.

“This is a new milestone in Best Best & Krieger’s long history as a public law firm,” says John Brown, chair of the firm’s municipal and redevelopment law practice group.  “Our law firm now serves as general and special counsel to more cities - large and small - throughout the state than any competing municipal law firm.”

In addition, longtime Riverside County District Attorney Grover Trask joined BB&K’s Riverside municipal law practice in January as special counsel focusing on governmental accountability, ethics, conflicts of interest, and election law.  Trask heads up a new public policy and ethics compliance working group.

¹ League of California Cities City Attorney Roster, www.cacities.org, February 2007