Lagerlof Senecal Gosney Kruse Attorneys at Law

THE

Recruiting

FIRM

General Information
Lagerlof, Senecal, Gosney & Kruse, presently consisting of nine partners and two associates, was originally founded in downtown Los Angeles in 1908. Our mission is to provide clients with top quality legal services while emphasizing the lawyer's ethical obligations to both the client and the legal community. Although our practice demands hard work from every lawyer in the firm, we also stress the quality of life, and encourage our attorneys to develop and maintain personal and professional interests apart from the firm. Our atmosphere is congenial, with a strong sense of teamwork directed toward achieving the goals of both our clients and the firm.

Nature of Practice
Corporate, Real Estate, Construction, Labor and Tax Matters (25%); Estate Planning, Probate and Trusts (25%); Business Litigation (20%); Municipal, Administrative and Water Law (20%); Other, including Environmental Law, Antitrust, Bankruptcy, and Domestic Relations (10%)

Nature of Clientele
Our clients include business organizations and public entities, as well as individuals. Representative examples include Gallo Glass Company, CalMat Company, Orthopaedic Hospital, Searles Valley Minerals, Inc., Palmdale Water District, Western Water Company, Beauchamp Distributing Co., Rhone-Poulenc Basic Chemical Company, Kruse & Sons, Inc., Ventura Port District, Hunsaker Development Co., Walnut Valley Water District, Newhall County Water District, manufacturers, land developers and construction companies, several firms of architects and engineers, homeowners associations, several municipalities and public agencies, and numerous public water districts and mutual water companies.

The Role of the Beginning Lawyer or Summer Clerk
Summer clerks and beginning lawyers are assigned to work with experienced attorneys in a variety of fields of practice. The firm attempts to give them reasonable contact with trial matters and pre-trial procedure, business law, tax, and probate matters. There is a close working relationship between the lawyers and the law clerk, as well as among the lawyers themselves. The new lawyer will be permitted to assume individual responsibility according to his or her skills and experience.

Experienced lawyers will provide guidance and suggestions as needed or requested. After a few months, the new lawyer typically will have significant responsibility involving several matters, and will be assisting more experienced attorneys on a few major cases or transactions. Client contact at an early stage of the starting lawyer's practice is a significant firm goal.

While most firm members gradually develop greater expertise in some areas than others, each lawyer handles a broad variety of business-related issues. Neither the firm nor its lawyers confines legal practice to a particular specialty. The firm provides its lawyers with the challenge of representing a sophisticated clientele in a diversity of business and personal matters with a high degree of professional competence. Our goal is to assist the beginning attorney in becoming a well-rounded lawyer.

In order to develop professional skills and habits that will serve each lawyer well throughout his or her career, the firm strives to place the emphasis on the quality work early on. New lawyers are not expected to produce clients immediately, but gradually are encouraged to participate actively in the firm's practice development activities. Each lawyer in the firm has developed a practice development plan with the assistance of an outside consultant retained for that purpose. We meet regularly to review our practice development efforts.

General Policies and Interests
The firm is interested in applicants who have demonstrated academic excellence. Generally, the firm hires from the upper third of the class. Naturally, participation by a student in either law review or other similar scholarly journals or the advanced moot court program is favorably considered. The firm also recognizes that other factors are important in making a good lawyer, and encourages applicants to bring such factors to its attention.

Salaries paid to the new lawyer and the summer clerk are comparable to those paid by other firms of similar size and stature in our locale. Advancement within the firm is dependent on the efforts, abilities and performance of the individual. Each associate is hired with the expectation that he or she will ultimately become a partner in the firm.

Associate attorneys are entitled to two weeks paid vacation each year. The firm provides comprehensive medical insurance, a dental plan, State, County and local Bar dues, parking and a business development expense account.

Each year the firm provides the lawyers and their families with a three-day outing to a recreational resort in Southern California. The firm sponsors other special events during the year, some of which include families.

The individual interests of the lawyers in nonprofessional pursuits are extremely varied, and include spectator and participant sports, the arts and outdoor recreation. Individual firm members participate in community and professional affairs such as university support groups, social clubs, political activities, civic organizations, professional contributions to legal journalism, and church and charitable work.

Plans for the Growth of the Firm
The firm has a substantial group of clients of long standing. In order to provide high caliber legal services to its stable but expanding list of clients while preserving the advantages of the firm's present size and structure, the firm expects to add attorneys at a relatively moderate, steady rate.