RW&G

We Invite You To Interview With Richards, Watson & Gershon

RW&G is a full service law firm of 71 lawyers, representing public and private sector clients for over fifty years. Our firm is headquartered on Bunker Hill in downtown Los Angeles, with offices in Orange County and San Francisco, California. In our public agency and municipal law practice, our lawyers serve as City Attorneys to 25 cities and towns and as Agency Counsel or Special Counsel to more than 20 redevelopment agencies throughout the state. We represent numerous other cities, joint powers authorities, transit agencies and school, water, sanitation, hazard abatement and library districts as Litigation and Special Counsel, as well as energy companies, manufacturers, real estate developers, and enterprises.

We seek to hire lawyers of the highest caliber, in terms of both intellectual ability and personal integrity. We place great emphasis on a sustained record of outstanding academic performance, including distinguished law school and undergraduate grades, Law Review or other Journal experience, law-related work experience, faculty or professional references, and judicial clerkships. RW&G is strictly committed to making its employment decisions, for both professional and non-professional staff, on the basis of ability and promise, and without regard to age, ancestry, color, creed, disability, ethnicity, marital status, national origin, pregnancy, race, religion, sex, or sexual orientation.

The lawyers of RW&G are of diverse backgrounds. A number of our lawyers joined the legal profession after succeeding in other careers; some of our associates are older than some shareholders. The firm interviews widely and our lawyers come from law schools throughout the country.

Our lawyers remain active in many areas related to but outside the practice of law. Richard Richards (1916-1988), one of our founding shareholders, represented all of Los Angeles County (prior to the reapportionment cases) in the State Senate for eight years and was twice the Democratic nominee for the United States Senate; and another of our shareholders, Robert G. Beverly, served for 30 years in the California State Legislature.

It is our policy to avoid creating an unnecessary atmosphere of artificial competition among summer associates and among associates. We do not deliberately over-hire for anticipated positions. Individuals are judged on their own merits; our evaluation process is designed to provide constructive feedback and suggestions for improvement to each associate and summer associate.

Our Associates Committee, which consists of three associates (elected by the associates at large) and two shareholders, plays an integral role in the determination of firm policy concerning associates, including associate salaries and bonuses. Associates and our Director of Professional Recruitment hold voting positions on the firm's Hiring Committee.

Description of Firm

RW&G presently consists of 36 Shareholders, 1 Senior Counsel, 5 Of Counsel, and 28 Associates. The firm's support staff consists of an Executive Director, a Office Administrator, a Information Services Manager, a Director of Marketing and Professional Recruitment, a Human Resources Manager, plus 23 secretaries, a Librarian, a seven-member accounting and computer staff, administrative and reception personnel, and a word processing department, all of whom play an active role in the life and activities of the firm.

One of the advantages of RW&G's size and nature is that, while committed to delivering quality legal representation and to compensating our lawyers for hard work and outstanding results, we have always been responsive to the special needs and interests of our lawyers. Our lawyers serve as instructors, authors and consultants for various continuing legal education programs. One of our lawyers worked part-time as special counsel for a candidate in a U.S. Senate race; another was treasurer in the state-wide campaign of a candidate for Attorney General; yet another was extensively involved in the campaign of a candidate for State Controller. A number of our lawyers have devoted substantial time to handling pro bono litigation matters on behalf of Public Counsel, the public interest law office of the Los Angeles County Bar Association. All of our lawyers are encouraged to participate in public interest, pro bono educational and community activities outside the firm.

This accommodation of individual interests and pursuits arises out of a basic respect for the professionalism of our lawyers. Our approach to the practice of law tends to attract extremely capable individuals who enjoy challenges and who make a distinct contribution to the personality and direction of the firm. The result is a friendly and diverse working atmosphere in which our lawyers strive for professional excellence without losing sight of the larger world around them.

Nature of the Firm's Practice

RW&G is not rigidly departmentalized. Because our lawyers choose the areas in which they work based on their evolving interests and the needs of the firm, each tends to overlap into several practice areas at any given time.

For example, we frequently advise our cities on regulation of real estate development and land use controls, yet we also represent the interests of developers in other cities. One of our lawyers might spend a morning in court arguing in favor of the validity of a municipal ordinance and the afternoon in another court attacking the constitutionality of another city's law on behalf of a private corporation. A litigator will frequently call on a business lawyer in connection with the negotiation of a settlement agreement. We believe that the breadth of our practice enhances our expertise as well as the objectivity and independence of our counsel.

The firm's principal practice areas are as follows:

Our Summer Associate Program

The goal of our summer associate program is to acquaint our summer associates with RW&G and its practice, to evaluate the summer associates' potential as members of RW&G, and to provide an experience that will prove beneficial to their future professional careers. Many of our shareholders and associates first joined RW&G as summer associates and have practiced law with RW&G continuously since graduating from law school.

The summer associate program is designed to give each summer associate a clear impression of what it would be like to work for RW&G full-time. The assignments given to summer associates are similar in type and quality to assignments given to new associates. Summer associates are invited to participate in all firm activities including litigation and public law department meetings. To the maximum extent possible, summer associates are treated as new associates.

We try to assure that every summer associate has an opportunity to observe all phases of our practice. In addition to preparing research memoranda, briefs, motions, ordinances, contracts, and the like, summer associates are invited to attend depositions, trials, administrative hearings, settlement conferences, city council meetings and other proceedings whether or not they are involved in the particular matter at hand.

Summer associates are given the opportunity to attend cultural, sporting, and civic events in the greater Los Angeles area. Attendance at these events is optional.

Summer associates are evaluated formally and are given both formal and informal feedback on their work. It is our general policy to inform our summer associates by September 15 whether or not they will be offered associate positions with the firm following their graduation from law school.

Compensation for 2008 summer associates at the firm will be $8000 per month. RW&G will reimburse summer associates attending law school outside California for round-trip coach air fare to Los Angeles.

Work of New Associates

Though RW&G is organized by departments, inter-departmental work assignments are not uncommon. All associates have frequent and direct working contact with our most experienced lawyers. Relations between lawyers tend to be informal, and new associates are quickly involved in the firm's practice.

New associates are given responsibility for handling matters as soon as they are ready and willing to accept it. This means that new lawyers have early opportunities for court appearances, public meetings, and client contact. In addition to informal feedback, associates are given annual, formal written evaluations indicating their progress at the firm.

RW&G has made a major commitment to the training of its associates. In addition to a long tradition of in-house lectures and an allowance for attending outside continuing education programs, RW&G conducts practical training exercises which give an opportunity for actual practice of the legal craft in a realistic setting. For example, associates have participated in a mock city council meeting in which they were called upon to respond to questions which might typically arise in the course of a public meeting. Similar practical training exercises are conducted for depositions, client counseling, trial advocacy, and other important topics. Together with a strong tradition of training associates by allowing them to work directly with senior shareholders, RW&G's commitment to a formal program of associate training helps assure the rapid and well-rounded professional development of our lawyers.

Associates are eligible for admission to shareholder status after the completion of seven full years with the firm. Lawyers are expected to produce a minimum of 1850 billable hours per year, and this target is frequently exceeded by both shareholders and associates. Compensation for starting associates in 2008 has been set at an annual salary rate of $108,000 per year ($100,000 per year while awaiting admission to the California Bar). The firm has also made available individual 401(k) pension plans for all employees. Starting associates are paid one month's salary while studying for the California Bar Examination, and are reimbursed for the cost of registering to take the examination; the firm also pays the cost of the standard California bar review course (BAR/BRI, BarPassers, etc.), and the standard multi-state (PMBR) bar review course. After admission, the annual state bar dues of all lawyers are paid by the firm.