Portland firm Stoel Rives, announced this week that it would be “downsizing” its San Francisco office and focus its energies in California on Sacramento. Some of the 14 lawyers from the San Fran office are expected to relocate to the firm’s other eight offices. The firm specializes in land use and real estate practices, and has two other CA offices in Tahoe City and San Diego. Attempts to grow the San Francisco office such as the 2001 merger with Washburn Briscoe & McCarthy did not end well, as eight partners left in 2005 and more have departed since then. Last month’s departure of Peter Mostow, the former leader of the renewable energy practice, was a especially hard felt loss for the firm. Former Stoel partners suggest that some of the firm’s problems resulted from an inability to bill enough hours, gain income, and raise compensation enough to remain competitive with other California firms.
Source: www.law.com