San Francisco Office and Attorneys Profiled in The Recorder

The article "Specialists Seek to Spread Reach" in the October 24 issue of The Recorder highlights Seyfarth Shaw among a few San Francisco law firms that are broadening the number of services and practices offered to clients beyond a specialized single area of focus.  "Nick Geannacopulos did something unusual at Seyfarth Shaw's partner retreat, held last month at the seaside Ritz-Carlton in Laguna Niguel.   He gathered 50 California partners at the 725-lawyer labor and employment powerhouse for a meeting, but he wouldn't let the labor lawyers say a word until they'd heard from every other practice group.   Seyfarth has, for several years, been trying to move past its roots to become a more full-service firm, and Geannacopulos, a labor lawyer who heads the firm's San Francisco office, said the idea was to make sure his labor and employment colleagues knew about the other practices, like bankruptcy and real estate, that the firm has begun building in the state.  "Everybody talks about cross-selling, but there's really a lot of old-fashioned hard work to get the ball moving forward," Geannacopulos said. "Our model is to incentivize sharing; we're getting better about it."   As law firms continue to grow larger, many of those that built themselves on a single strong practice are branching out. It's a daunting task. Attracting laterals in a practice area that a firm isn't known for can be difficult and expensive, and convincing clients that the firm can handle a legal matter in a developing practice is equally trying.  . . . For a new partner, getting the attention of new colleagues can take time.   Seyfarth partner Donald Featherstun joined the firm in 1995. A government contracts lawyer, Featherstun said that in his first three or four years at the firm, 100 percent of his work came from clients he'd brought with him from Pettit & Martin. Now, he said, other Seyfarth lawyers refer about 30 or 40 percent of his work to him, including Avaya Inc., a telecom company that had been a client of the firm's labor practice.  "It's not something that just happens overnight," Featherstun said.  Although the Seyfarth lawyers said they weren't exactly clear on how cross-selling efforts are rewarded in compensation, they did say they get a bump in client expense accounts if they bring another lawyer to pitch business.  The firm has about 35 labor and employment attorneys in its San Francisco office, compared to about 20 lawyers from practices ranging from real estate to bankruptcy to commercial litigation.  . . .   For at least one brand-new bankruptcy lawyer at Seyfarth, the meeting in Laguna Niguel was a good start.  "It generated additional conversations and that's created some opportunities," said David Wiseblood, a San Francisco partner. "If you can just get your foot in the door … that's all you can ask for."