Five years ago, nearly 100 lawyers worked at Los Angeles-based Liner Grode Stein Yankelevitz Sunshine Regenstreif & Taylor, many of them specializing in big-ticket business litigation. Today, the firm’s total headcount is nearly half that size. And its focus has shifted away from big cases toward contingent-fee and alternative-fee litigation.
Stuart Liner, the firm’s co-founder and managing partner, said the change was part design, part economic. The downturn forced the firm to lay off a dozen lawyers, both partners and associates, and hold back on replacing departing ones. The firm went through a year and a half of downsizing, beginning in late 2008 and ending in early 2010 with the layoffs. The result has been a renewed focus on hiring partners with large books of business, regardless of their practice area. One key addition was Stanton “Larry” Stein, who joined in 2009 and now heads the firm’s entertainment and media litigation department, one of its busiest practices.
