Shook, Hardy & Bacon (Courtesy photo)

Kansas City, Missouri-based Shook, Hardy & Bacon is launching a new office in Los Angeles after taking a three-partner litigation team from Sidley Austin.

The group is led by partner Michael Mallow, who most recently served as the co-head of Sidley's consumer class action defense practice. Joining Mallow from Sidley's Los Angeles office are partners Mark Campbell and Rachel Straus and of counsel Darlene Cho, along with an associate.

Michael Mallow

“The primary emphasis for us is that Shook does what we do. They are litigators with 90 percent of their attorneys classified as litigators, trial lawyers,” said Campbell, adding that the firm's class action expertise was another key attraction.

Campbell and other Sidley members were part of a group that made the jump from Loeb & Loeb to Sidley Austin toward the end of 2014. All of them are experienced in consumer class actions.

“We also knew the Shook folks because worked together with them on a number of different cases and a number of different projects,” added Mallow. “We have similar styles, similar values. It was a really nice fit.”

Straus said Shook's commitment to diversity was also a draw, noting that its executive council is made up by 45 percent woman and diverse attorneys. “It tells me not only is Shook recruiting and retaining women and diverse attorneys, but they are being promoted to key leadership positions that help shape the culture of the firm,” she said.

Mark Campbell

The Los Angeles outpost in Century City will be Shook's third location in California, in addition to its Orange County and San Francisco offices. Shook partner Frank Kelly and of counsel Andrew Trask, both currently based in San Francisco, will also be members of the new L.A. office. Trask, who previously served as co-chairman of McGuireWoods' class action group, joined Shook last fall.

“We are excited to welcome Rachel, Mark and Michael to the firm and believe they have just the right chemistry and experience to expand our national platform to Los Angeles,” Shook chair Madeleine McDonough said in a statement. “They are the complete package: strategic litigators, tenacious trial lawyers and seasoned counselors.”

According to Mallow, his group was working on active cases for Honda, Toyota, Mazda, Hyundai and Subaru prior to the move. In addition to their representation of auto manufacturers and distributors, the lawyers also work with consumer products, food and beverage, dietary supplement, and Internet and technology companies in consumer litigation matters.

Rachel Straus

While at Sidley, the group defended Honda in a class action claiming the automaker used soy-wire insulation in its cars that attracted gnawing rodents that left the vehicles inoperable. Judge Manuel Real of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California dismissed the case in July 2017, agreeing with Honda's argument that the plaintiffs were not specific enough in their allegations.

Among other partner additions this year, Shook picked up former Coca-Cola litigation counsel John Lewis Jr. in Texas and boosted its tort practice with the hires of Melissa Siebert and Erin Bolan Hines in Chicago. The pair had previously co-led Baker & Hostetler's Biometric Information Privacy Act practice.

Sidley did not respond to a request for comment regarding the departures. A longtime real estate partner, Edward Prokop, also recently left the firm's Los Angeles office to join Winston & Strawn.

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