Heller Ehrman LLP
01 August 2007
Heller Ehrman can claim to be one of the oldest law firms in California, and is able to trace its history back to 1890 when Emanuel Heller opened his practice in San Francisco. Partners from the firm have since been involved in some of the largest projects in the state’s history, including negotiating the financing for the construction of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge and serving as general counsel to the Golden Gate Bridge District, arranging for the bonds to carry the project. Recent mergers and acquisitions mean that today the firm has 13 offices worldwide, including four in its home state.
Heller Ehrman LLP in Who's Who Legal: California
The San Francisco office remains Heller Ehrman’s largest, and the vast majority of its partners we select are based there. The firm’s single largest contingent is in the commercial litigation chapter, where its four lawyers outnumber those at any other firm. Heller Ehrman can count 3M, Microsoft, Visa USA, BP and all of the Big Four accounting firms among its clients for disputes. Firm chairman Matthew Larrabee was highly commended by his peers. Douglas Schwab was praised for his “well-known securities practice”. Laurence Popofsky counts Apple and Ernst & Young among his clients, while compliments for Robert Rosenfeld included a source saying he was “consummate legal strategist and tactician”. In the competition chapter, Popofsky led the firm’s litigation teams representing Visa USA in a dispute involving Dean Witter, Discover and American Express. Rosenfeld performed a similar role for Microsoft in the antitrust cases filed within the US and overseas. Chair of the global competition practice Stephen Bomse completes the triumvirate and is regarded as “outstanding”.
Heller Ehrman is similarly well represented in the insurance chapter. David Goodwin is one of the founders, and former co-chairs, of the insurance recovery group, and he impressed our sources with his “encyclopedic knowledge”. Barry Levin was equally well thought of (“he’s a truly outstanding lawyer”), and Lawrence Hobel completes the firm’s strong showing in this field.
The firm is also recognised for its M&A work, and has been involved in multiple transactions with companies such as Yahoo!, Cisco Systems, Microsoft and Nokia in recent years. The chair of the practice group, Steven Tonsfeldt, has led acquisitions totalling more than $70 billion. He is joined by co-chair of the group Timothy Hoxie, who was particularly praised for his work on behalf of Symantec.
Heller Ehrman lawyers appear in a further six areas. Peter Benvenutti has experience of landmark business reorganisations such as WorldCom, Pacific Gas & Electric and Software Logistics and is “straight out of the top drawer”. Joseph Armao’s litigation and Superfund work earned him a place in the environment section. Michael Shepard leads white-collar criminal defence practice and is a former interim United States attorney for the northern district of Illinois.
Partners from the firm also impressed interviewees in both IP chapters. John Benassi has a “great reputation” for his patent work relating to medical devices and biotechnology in particular, while Beth Goldman is renowned nationally and internationally for her trademarks work.
To see more profiled firms from California, vist the Firm Profiles page in the California Special Report