For some attorneys, smaller is better. Three years after spearheading a merger between their 40-attorney Los Angeles firm Van Etten Suzumoto & Becket and McGuireWoods, David Van Etten and Mark Suzumoto have left to start their own firm, again.

The lawyers fled a predecessor firm to Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman in 1996 seeking greater control over their practice. Their independent streak ended a decade after it began when Richmond-based McGuireWoods came calling.