O’Melveny & Myers
O’Melveny & Myers LLP
| O’Melveny & Myers LLP | |
 | |
| Headquarters | Los Angeles, California |
|---|---|
| No. of Offices | 14 |
| No. of Attorneys | approx. 1,200 (2007) |
| Major Practice Areas | General practice |
| Key People | Arthur B. Culvahouse, Jr., Firm chairman |
| Revenue | $908 million, 2008 (down 3% from 2007) |
| Date Founded | 1885 |
| Founder | Henry O’Melveny and Jackson Graves |
| Company Type | Limited liability partnership |
It employs around twelve hundred attorneys in fourteen[2] offices worldwide. The firm has represented a host of notable clients, such as Apple, Exxon, Enron, Fannie Mae, Goldman Sachs, the District of Columbia, New Line Cinema, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios, and other law firms. They represented former Enron Corporation chief executive Jeffrey K. Skilling during his four-month fraud and conspiracy trial.[3]
The firm was founded in 1885 as "Graves & O'Melveny" by Henry O’Melveny and Jackson Graves.[4] The current chair of the firm, Arthur B. Culvahouse, Jr., who serves at the firm'sWashington, D.C. office, is the former White House Counsel during the Reagan Administration. Former U.S. Secretary of State Warren Christopher is a partner at the firm's Century City, CAoffice.
O’Melveny & Myers attorneys represent clients in many areas, including antitrust and competitiveness issues, appellate work, aviation law, capital markets, class-action defense,corporate law, entertainment and media law, finance and restructuring, "global enforcement" and criminal defense, healthcare law, insurance and mass torts, intellectual property and technology, labor and employment law, mergers and acquisitions, private equity, project development and real estate, SEC, securities litigation, strategic counseling, tax law, and trial and litigation work.
Notable partners and alumni
- Warren Christopher, former U.S. Secretary of State, currently a partner at its Century City office.
- Daniel Petrocelli, achieved fame as the attorney in the successful wrongful death lawsuit brought by Ronald Goldman's family against O.J. Simpson. Petrocelli also represented Jeffrey Skilling in his criminal prosecution arrising out of the collapse of the Enron Corporation. Currently a partner at the Century City office.
- Walter E. Dellinger III, United States Solicitor General for the 1996-97 Term of the Supreme Court. Currently a partner at the Washington, DC office.
- Arthur B. Culvahouse, Jr., former White House Counsel to President Ronald Reagan. He is the current chair of the firm and works out of the Washington, DC office.
- Alejandro Mayorkas, former U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California. In 1998, President Bill Clinton nominated Mayorkas to be the U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California, the largest federal judicial district in the nation. Attorney General Janet Reno appointed Mayorkas to the position in December 1998 and the U.S. Senate confirmed the nomination in August 1999. Mayorkas was, at the age of 39, the youngest U.S. Attorney in the nation. He supervised more than 240 Assistant U.S. Attorneys and oversaw the investigation and prosecution of cases involving complex securities and financial institution fraud, international money laundering, civil rights violations, high-tech and computer-related crime, defense procurement fraud, corrupt public officials, environmental crime, organized crime, narcotics trafficking, and racketeering. He was the chief federal law enforcement official in a District spanning approximately 180 cities with an aggregate population of 18 million people. Currently, Mayorkas serves as the Chairperson-elect of the Board of Directors for Bet Tzedek Legal Services - The House of Justice. He is a partner at the Los Angeles office.
- Carla J. Christofferson, the Miss North Dakota USA 1989 and co-owner of the Los Angeles Sparks women's basketball team. Currently a partner at the firm's Los Angeles office and the firm's Talent Development Partner.[5]
- William T. Coleman, the former secretary of transportation under President Ford, and also helped Thurgood Marshall win Brown vs. Board of Education. Currently a partner in the Washington, DC office.
- Marty Dunn, Deputy Director, and former Acting Director, of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's Division of Corporation Finance. Currently a partner in the Washington, DC office.
- Louis Caldera, served as United States Secretary of the Army.
- Former partner Kim McLane Wardlaw is a federal judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
- Former partner Sandra Segal Ikuta is a federal judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
- Of Counsel Timothy Muris served as chairman of the Federal Trade Commission from 2001 to 2004 and helped create the National Do Not Call Registry.
- Victor Jih, winner of the Amazing Race 14.
- Michael Zimmerman, former Chief Justice of the Utah Supreme Court
[edit]Notable cases
In January 2008, the Interim Attorney General for the District of Columbia, Peter Nickles, selected O’Melveny & Myers partner Walter E. Dellinger III to defend the constitutionality of the District's handgun ban before the Supreme Court in District of Columbia v. Heller.[6] In March 2008, Dellinger argued that the city's ban on the possession of handguns and its trigger lock requirement is not implicated by the Second Amendment.[7] However, the Supreme Court, in a 5-4 ruling, held that the Second Amendment protects an individual's "right to possess a firearm unconnected with service in a militia, and to use that arm for traditionally lawful purposes, such as self-defense within the home."[8]
In February 2008, Dellinger argued before the Supreme Court in Exxon Shipping Co. v. Baker, on behalf of Exxon regarding the Exxon Valdezoil spill. The Supreme Court, in a 5-3 decision (Justice Alito had recused himself), reduced the $2.5 billion punitive damages award against Exxon to $507.5 million, holding that in maritime cases there should be a 1:1 ratio between punitive and compensatory (actual) damages.[9]
The firm represented the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) in the lawsuits over the Belmont Learning Center in Los Angeles in the 1990s. LAUSD later sued the firm for alleged malpractice due, in part, to the involvement of its attorneys on all sides of the negotiations.[10] The lawsuit eventually settled, with the law firm paying $3 million towards completion of Belmont.[11]
[edit]Office locations
- Beijing
- Brussels
- Century City
- Hong Kong
- London
- Los Angeles
- Newport Beach
- New York City
- San Francisco
- Shanghai
- Silicon Valley
- Singapore
- Tokyo
- Washington, D.C.
[edit]References
- ^ Law Firm Rankings: The Vault Top 100 Law Firms
- ^ Office listing
- ^ After the Enron Trial, Defense Firm Is Stuck With the Tab
- ^ Firm history
- ^ [1]
- ^ City Picks Head of Team for Supreme Court Case - washingtonpost.com
- ^ Justices Lean Toward Individual Right to Bear Arms - US News and World Report
- ^ Supreme Court Strikes Down D.C. Handgun Ban : NPR
- ^ Law.com - Supreme Court Reduces Damages Awarded in Exxon Case
- ^ The School That Wasn't
- ^ [2]
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