Ogletree Deakins sign. (Photo: Diego M. Radzinschi/ALM)

After more than a quarter-century at Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner, Los Angeles attorney Leslie Helmer has made a move to labor and employment firm Ogletree Deakins.

Helmer, now a shareholder at Ogletree Deakins, practiced in Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner's Los Angeles office for 27 years, where she was a member of the firm's labor and employment department.

“At Ogletree Deakins, everyone's an employment lawyer,” said Helmer, explaining her move. “You are not part of a less-profitable practice that is not fully valued or supported. This is all Ogletree Deakins does!”

Helmer started practicing employment law in California in 1990. She represents clients in the entertainment, technology, retail and hospitality industries clients in harassment, discrimination, wrongful discharge matters and federal and state legislative issues.

“I am now able to handle more work with existing clients through the firm's six California offices that boast more than 130 attorneys, take on more national work with the national footprint and refer work in immigration, employee benefits, affirmative action and other specialty areas,” Helmer added.

David Raizman, managing shareholder of Ogletree Deakins' Los Angeles office, said in a statement that he has worked with Helmer for 10 years, noting her connections in the local legal market.

“When a good client tells you that it won't send you its California work because it uses Leslie, you are not surprised, just motivated to hire her. I'm delighted that we have finally persuaded her to make the switch,” Raizman said.

In a statement addressing Helmer's departure, Bryan Cave's spokesperson noted that Helmer was counsel in its Los Angeles office before saying “we wish her well.”

“BCLP's global Employment and Labor team has over 90 lawyers in 21 offices and offers high caliber counsel on a full range of employment matters including high-stakes litigation and transactional support,” the firm said.

With Helmer's arrival, Ogletree Deakins' Los Angeles office, which opened in 2003, has a total of 45 attorneys. Firmwide, Ogletree Deakins said it has about 850 attorneys located in its 53 offices across the United States and in Europe, Canada and Mexico.

The firm added an all-female, five-lawyer team from FordHarrison last fall, led by equity partner Lyne Richardson.

Ogletree Deakins is also currently facing a gender bias suit filed by several former partners, including ex-equity partner Tracy Warren.

Also Wednesday, the firm announced that it elected shareholder Stephanie Smithey as chair of its employee benefits and executive compensation practice group, which consists of more than 50 attorneys. Smithey will replace Joel “Buddy” Daniel, who founded the group in 1988 and has chaired it for over 30 years.

Read more: 

Former Ogletree Partner Lodges New Gender Bias Suit

Partner Suing Ogletree for Gender Bias Tells Her Story

Ogletree Deakins, Troutman Sanders Bolster SoCal Labor Law Teams