Law Firms Flocking to San Diego

SAN DIEGO COUNTY – More than 20 law firms have opened new offices in San Diego County or expanded their regional practice since 2020 in a trend that continues to this day.

“It’s exciting for our town and it just shows we’re on the map,” said Scott Schindler, a managing director of JLL and a former lawyer.

Since 2020, 86% of San Diego law firms have also either expanded or renewed leases to keep their offices, according to JLL.

Many of the larger firms that opened offices in San Diego are drawn to the region’s life science companies despite what has been a downturn in the overall life science environment, Schindler said.

“They realize if they want to be representing large and upcoming life science companies, they need to plant a flag in San Diego,” Schindler said. “A lot of law firms that have moved here, they’re either opening an office and hiring in a grass roots fashion or acquiring a legacy San Diego law firm, taking over a San Diego footprint and taking over their attorneys.”

Among notable acquisitions cited by Schindler, Fennemore, one of the top 200 law firms in the country, based in Phoenix, merged with the San Diego firm of Sullivan Hill in January 2024 and Quarles & Brady merged with Paul, Plevin, Sullivan & Connaughton in 2022.

Most of the law firms moving to San Diego County have chosen to open offices in Del Mar and other communities north of Route 56 because that’s home to most of the partner-level lawyers that they want to attract, according to Schindler.

Downtown still draws a share of law firms because that’s where the courts are, but proximity to courts isn’t as important as it once was, Schindler said.

“Proximity to courthouses is probably important to firms that specialize in litigation and have frequent (court) appearances, but this has evolved,” Schindler said, and “many of these appearances are remote.”

“Downtown landlords are doing everything they can to incentivize them to stay, but sometimes that’s not enough,” Schindler said.

With leases soon expiring for several downtown firms that lease 50,000 square feet or more of office space, “There’s going to be some big things in downtown with some legacy law firms making big decisions,” Schindler said.

Hiring Big Name Lawyers

Even as more law firms come to San Diego, many of those already in place are beefing up their practice by expanding staff and bringing in seasoned veterans.

Among the high-profile additions, former California Deputy Solicitor Josh Patashnik has joined the San Diego office of Perkins Coie as a partner in the firm’s litigation and appellate practice.

Patashnik is the second well-known lawyer to join Perkins Coie’s San Diego office this year.

Tara McGrath, the former U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of California, joined Perkins Coie in July.

McGrath, who was fired by President Donald Trump in February, joined Perkins Coie’s litigation practice as a white collar and investigations partner in the San Diego office. earlier this year.

Patashnik once served as a law clerk to former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy and U.S. Court of Appeals Judge Jeffrey Sutton.

“I’m energized by the opportunity to help guide some of the world’s most sophisticated companies and help them see around corners in the critical California market and across the nation,” Patashnik said. “Perkins Coie is well known in California’s legal and business community as a tenacious and principled firm that advocates zealously for its clients and is committed to their growth and success.”

Nukk-Freeman & Cerra, which opened a San Diego office in October 2022, in September added Michaela Banach to its staff of lawyers.

Formerly a partner at Noonan Lance Boyer & Banach, Banach is a former president of the San Diego County Bar Association.

Higgs Fletcher Mack also expanded its practice with the addition of four lawyers, including former Deputy San Diego City Attorney Emily Garson.

Garson was part of the city attorney’s Domestic Violence Unit and has joined the firm’s Family Law Practice Group.

Also new to Higgs Fletcher Mack are Michael Healy and Lauren Kane in the Transportation Practice Group.

A native of New England, Ray Huard has been a reporter at newspapers in California, Florida and New England, including The (Jacksonville) Florida Times-Union, the Miami Herald, the Palm Beach Post in West Palm Beach, the San Diego Union-Tribune, the North County Times, and the San Diego Business Journal. He has covered a wide variety of beats including real estate, politics, science, the environment, state and city government and courts.