After growing from five to 27 lawyers over the last five years in Los Angeles, litigation-focused Shook, Hardy & Bacon is trying to reach “critical mass” in the city by adding roughly 20 more lawyers there over the next five years.

“To have critical mass, to really have a presence in the Los Angeles market and be a litigation powerhouse, I think you need about 45 to 50 lawyers,” said Shook’s LA office managing partner, Michael Mallow, adding he’d like to have that number in the next five years.