Jones Day’s Irvine IP Head Goes to Boutique

From the Los Angeles Daily Journal
By Casey Sullivan

The intellectual property head of Jones Day’s Irvine office is decamping the firm after nearly 25 years and taking his practice to Newport Beach IP and entertainment boutique One LLP. Lester J. Savit, who grew Jones Day’s office from 14 lawyers in the 1980s to the 60 lawyers it houses today, said he downsized to the boutique to be more receptive to Southern California businesses seeking more flexible billing rates. He will start working at One LLP on Jan. 1.

Savit said he feels the larger portion of legal work to be had in Southern California comes from businesses needing alternative billing arrangements in today’s economy rather than large companies still willing to pay top market prices. “I want to represent the companies in Southern California,” said Savit, a member of the Dean’s Advisory Board of UC Irvine’s Paul Merage School of Business. In addition, Savit said he liked the idea of joining a small firm with entrepreneurial ambitions. “It’s exciting to create something,” Savit said.

One LLP has offices in Newport Beach and Santa Monica and staffs 11 lawyers, who focus mainly on intellectual property, with much of their work in patent plaintiffs’ cases. One LLP managing partner Chris Arledge, who founded the firm with two other O’Melveny & Myers lawyers in 2002, said it has doubled in size and that he expects its head count to double again in the next five to 10 years. He said he looks for that growth to come from Los Angeles, since much of the firm’s clients are in the entertainment industry. Jones Day spokesman Daryn Teague didn’t respond to a request for comment before press time Monday.